Nuclear magnetic resonance analysis method

ABSTRACT

Method for analyzing a sample including a species to be characterized and a reference species, includes:
         acquiring one or more complex free induction decay (FID) signal(s) (S(t)),   obtaining a FID spectrum S(ω) by applying a Fourier transform to the signal S(t), with the FID spectrum obtained including two portions, each extending from the resonance frequency of the reference species (F 0ref ) and respectively on either side of F 0Ref , with the frequency of the species to be characterized located on a portion of the spectrum;   modeling the signal of the reference species from the real and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal;   obtaining a spectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species including the reference species only,   obtaining a modified FID {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum;   applying a reverse Fourier transform to {tilde over (S)}(ω) to obtain a modified signal {tilde over (s)}(t);
           calculating the module of the {tilde over (s)}(t) modified FID signal.

TECHNICAL FIELD OF THE INVENTION

The present invention generally relates to nuclear magnetic resonance(NMR) techniques used in particular for analyzing samples. The presentinvention advantageously applies to the field of medicine for analyzingbiological samples from human bodies for example or to the field ofchemistry for analyzing chemical compositions. It is particularlyadvantageous for correcting the phase and/or the frequency of a freeinduction decay (FID) signal. In one advantageous but non-limitingapplication, the invention will be used for effectively recombining theNMR signals detected by antenna arrays.

STATE OF THE ART

Nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) was discovered in the forties, and hasbecome increasingly important in many areas of science for analyzingmaterials and more particularly in medicine for the in vivo observationof the human body. Numerous applications of this discovery have beenimplemented. In the medical field, magnetic resonance imaging or MRI andNMR spectroscopy makes it possible to analyze the composition of bodytissues. Within the scope of the present invention, the termsspectroscopy and spectrometry will be interchangeably used as suchtechniques make it possible to identify and/or quantify the content ofspecies in a sample.

Nuclear magnetic resonance is a complex phenomenon which is completelydescribed by the laws of quantum physics only. For understanding theinvention and the prior art it is however sufficient to know the mainphenomena implemented by NMR and briefly summarized below. It should benoted here that a very abundant technical literature dealing with allaspects of the NMR already exists.

When placed in a strong magnetic field, conventionally designated B0,typically of the order of one tesla (T) or more, some atoms acquirespecific properties such that, if disturbed by a radio wave having anappropriate frequency, they return a signal that can be analyzed.

The atoms involved are those with an atomic nucleus with a non-zeromagnetic moment or spin. In the medical field, hydrogen (H) of the water(H2O), which constitutes the major part of the human body has thisproperty. The water molecule has two hydrogen nuclei or protons having anon-zero spin driven by a precession movement of their axis at aparticular frequency called the Larmor frequency. When placed in astrong external static magnetic field, the nuclei then have their spinsorientated either in the direction of the external magnetic field, or inthe opposite direction while undergoing a precession movement at theLarmor frequency depending on the intensity of the external field B0. Asregards hydrogen nuclei, the Larmor frequency increases by 42 MHz (1megahertz=10⁶ hertz) per tesla. It is for example close to 4 MHz for 0.1T; 64 MHz for 1.5 T and 600 MHz for 14 T.

The nuclei may then be disturbed by a radio wave or radio frequency (RF)all the more easily since the frequency thereof is close to the Larmorfrequency and therefore preferably resonating therewith. The disturbancehas the effect of changing the orientation of the spin until it ispossibly switched to the other direction allowed by the externalmagnetic field B0. This means that the orientation is parallel orantiparallel thereto and switches from one to the other. Conventionallydesignated B1, the magnetic induction of the disturbing radio wave isapplied perpendicularly to that of B0 to switch the spin of the nuclei.Such switching and the return to a steady-state or relaxation generatethe electrical signal detected in all NMR equipment. This signal iscommonly referred to as FID for “free induction decay”.

The electromagnetic disturbance B1 is applied using electrical coilsusually called antennas. The coils or antennas are generally used bothfor applying the disturbance and for detecting the electrical signalsgenerated during the return to a steady-state of the nuclei. For thispurpose, they are associated on the one hand with electronic circuitswhich will enable an electric current to circulate for a controlled timeat the Larmor frequency, which will generate, in the region of the bodyto analyse, the electromagnetic wave and the disturbing field B1, and onthe other hand with electronic circuits which will make it possible todetect the electrical signals generated by the return to a steady-stateof the nuclei after the electromagnetic disturbance has beeninterrupted. It should be noted here that the electrical signals whichmust be detected with these antennas are usually low or very low, andthat the challenge is to distinguish these from the level of theintrinsic noise of the electrical equipment used. The signal to noiseratio (SNR) is the key criterion for the electrical detection part ofany NMR equipment. It must be high enough to enable the detection of thesignals at a level above the noise which makes these usable by theconsidered application.

As will be described in greater details below while referring to FIG. 1,the known techniques consist in performing a Fourier transform of theFID complex signal to obtain a spectral distribution of the sample. Suchspectral distribution makes it possible to compare the frequency and theamplitude of a reference signal with those of the signals of themetabolites to be characterized.

The reference signal usually corresponds to a major species in thesample. For analyzing a biological sample, the reference signal istypically the water signal.

Comparing the frequency and the amplitude of the water signal with thoseof the signals of the metabolites to be characterized makes it possibleto identify the nature and the content of the metabolites in the sample.

This technique is globally satisfactory. It nevertheless requires theacquired reference signal to be correctly positioned, as regards thephase and the frequency with respect to a theoretical position. Thereference signal is then said to be “resonating”. For this purpose, theconversion frequency of the receiver, typically a coil, must be set,exactly on the resonance frequency of the reference signal.

Now, many parameters tend to show a frequency shift which separates theacquired reference signal from its theoretical position.

As will be detailed later, such shift at least partially results fromthe difference existing, in practice, between the demodulation frequencyused by the receiver and the actual frequency of the reference signal.

The known techniques thus require to manually correct the phase and thefrequency of the complex FID signal prior to using it. Such correctionsteps are relatively long and tedious.

Besides, another manual correction operation consists in re-phasing thereference signal. As a matter of fact, in practice, a random offsetnecessarily exists between the phase of the signal used by the receiverand the phase of the reference signal. This is shown, in arepresentation of a complex FID signal, by the fact that the first pointof the FID is generally not real.

In addition, in the cases where signals from several volumetric entitiesof the sample, usually designated voxels, are acquired, theinhomogeneity of the field B0 also tends to result in phase shifts andfrequency offsets.

Furthermore, phase shifts and frequency offsets are also generated bythe use of multiple antennas. As a matter of fact, during the decades ofdevelopment, the antenna structures have known a significant evolutionand the research and development of NMR equipment now tend to promotethe use of multiple antennas for analyzing a given area of the humanbody. Such multiple antennas are generally identical and have a smallsize and the signals detected separately are combined in order to obtaina composite signal with a significantly better SNR than if it had beenobtained with a single antenna covering the same area of analysis.Furthermore, using a plurality of antennas will generally increase thespeed of acquisition, while maintaining a good SNR, which provesessential when the sample belongs to a living body and is thereforeoften not perfectly still. This type of antenna, called “phased arrayantenna”, is characterized by a significantly increased complexity ofelectronics and computer processing of the signals produced separatelyby each of the antennas in the array. As a matter of fact, it must bepossible to recombine them effectively, despite the inevitablegeometric, physical and electrical differences between the antennaswhich must be compensated for actually obtaining the expectedimprovements of the antenna array. The document US 2004/0095139discloses a solution for recombining the FID signals delivered byseveral coils.

Therefore an object of the present invention consists in providing amethod for simplifying and improving the correction of phase and/orfrequency of the NMR signals detected by the antennas, such as coils.

Furthermore, it would be particularly advantageous to improve the SNR ofthe signals obtained, with respect to the known methods.

It would also be particularly advantageous to provide a solution forimproving the recombination of the NMR signals detected separately byone or more antenna(s) without significantly complicating the knownequipment.

Another advantage consists in providing a solution for simplifying thecomplexity of NMR equipment, specifically those using several receivercoils.

Other objects, characteristics and advantages of the present inventionwill become apparent upon examining the following description and theappended drawings. It should be understood that other advantages may beincluded.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

According to one embodiment, the invention relates to a methodanalyzing, using nuclear magnetic resonance (RMN), at least one samplecomprising at least one species to be characterized and a referencespecies, the content of which in the sample is greater than twice thecontent of the at least one species to be characterized, with the methodcomprising the following steps:

-   a. applying at least one constant field B₀ to the at least one    sample,-   b. acquiring, by one or more antenna(s) one or more complex free    induction decay (FID) signal(s) S(t), with each FID complex signal    comprising a real part and an imaginary part; The step of acquiring    is preferably so performed that, in each complex FID signal, the    amplitude of the signal of the reference species is preferably at    least twice the amplitude of that of the at least one species to be    characterized.    The method also comprises at least the following steps:-   c. obtaining a FID spectrum S(ω) by applying a Fourier transform to    the real and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal    S(t), with the FID spectrum S(ω) obtained then comprising the signal    of the reference species and the signal of the species to be    characterized and having two portions UFR, DFR each extending from    the resonance frequency of the reference species (F_(0Ref)) and    respectively on either side of F_(0Ref), with the frequency of the    species to be characterized being located on a first portion of the    spectrum among said two portions UFR, DFR; in other words, the    spectrum S(ω) has two portions which respectively extend to the left    and to the right of F_(0Ref), with one portion of the spectrum S(ω)    extending towards the frequencies lower than F_(0Ref), and the other    portion of the spectrum S(ω) extending towards the frequencies    higher than F_(0Ref);-   d. modeling the signal of the reference species Sref(t) from the    real and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal S(t);-   e. obtaining a spectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species comprising    the reference species only, by applying a Fourier transform to the    modeling of the signal of the reference species Sref(t), with the    spectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species then having two spectrum    portions extending from the resonance frequency of the reference    species F_(0Ref′) of the spectrum Sref(ω) and respectively on either    side of F_(0Ref′); in other words, the spectrum Sref(ω) has two    portions which respectively extend to the left and to the right of    F_(0Ref′), with one portion of the spectrum Sref(ω) extending    towards the frequencies lower than F_(0Ref′), and the other portion    of the spectrum Sref(ω) extending towards the frequencies higher    than F_(0Ref′),-   f. obtaining a modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrum, by    substituting a second portion of the FID spectrum S(ω), with said    second portion being the portion taken from said two portions (UFR    and DFR) of the spectrum S(ω) and which does not comprise the    species to be characterized, by the portion of the spectrum Sref(ω)    taken from the two portions of the spectrum extending from F_(0Ref′)    of the spectrum Sref(ω) and extending on the same side as said    second portion of the spectrum S(ω); then after the substitution,    with the second portion of the {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrum has    reduced noise or even no noise.-   g. applying an inverse Fourier transform to the modified {tilde over    (S)}(ω) spectrum to obtain a modified FID signal {tilde over (s)}(t)    in the time domain;-   h. calculating the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID    signal.

A step of identifying and/or quantifying the species to be characterizedcan then be performed from the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal. The invention makes it possible to obtain verysatisfactory SNR. As a matter of fact, taking into account the modulemakes it possible to automatically correct the phase and frequencyshifts due in particular to the sample movements during the FID, to thefield B0 inhomogeneities and to the inevitable changes in the behaviourof the various antennas within the scope of an acquisition by severalantennas. The signal of the reference species is used as the carrier forthe signals of the species to be characterized and the phase informationof the latter is preserved in spite of the taking into account of themodule. The spectrum obtained is thus used to identify and to veryeasily characterize the species in the sample.

Moreover, replacing a portion of the spectrum S(ω) by a portion of thespectrum Sref(ω) resulting from the modeling of the reference species,makes it possible to obtain the modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrumwhich has no noise on the portion thereof which does not comprise thespecies to be characterized. The signal {tilde over (s)}(t) from whichthe module is calculated then has only the noise from the spectrumportion S(ω) comprising the species to be characterized. The steps c tof thus make it possible to avoid a superimposition of the noisesoriginally carried by the two portions of the spectrum S(ω) during thetaking into account of the module in step h. The SNR of the signalobtained is thus significantly improved, since the disadvantagesinherent in the taking into account of the module are limited or eveneliminated by the steps c to f.

Besides, as compared to known solutions, the module of the inventionmakes it possible not to resort to additional steps specificallydedicated to the phase and frequency corrections, with such stepsusually requiring significant processing time, often even a manualaction by an operator.

This method is particularly advantageous within the scope of aspectroscopic/spectrometric nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) analysis ofa sample. It makes it possible to easily identify and/or quantify thesample species.

In addition, thanks to the taking into account of the module, the amountof data to be processed is significantly reduced as compared to thatwhich must be conventionally processed where the complex signal isrequired for calculating the phase shift of the signal. In addition, themodule can be calculated in the real domain since it suffices to takethe square root of the sum of two numbers, each one being squared, whilethe phase calculation requires working with complex numbers, which ismore difficult to implement. The time and cost of processing aresignificantly reduced, and the fact that the manual action by anoperator is no longer required allows for the automatic processing inreal time without affecting the users.

The invention thus offers significant advantages as regards accuracy,reliability, reproducibility, processing times and cost reduction.

Optionally but advantageously, the method according to the invention mayalso comprise at least one of the following optional steps andcharacteristics which may be taken alone or in combination:

According to an advantageous embodiment, the method comprises: a step ofcalculating the module of the complex FID signal S(t) and the followingsteps executed after calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal and prior to the step of identifying and/orquantifying the species to be characterized:

-   -   either: subtracting the module of the signal S(t) from the        modified FID {tilde over (s)}(t) signal module and then        subtracting the result obtained in the previous step from the        module of the modified FID signal {tilde over (s)}(t).    -   or: applying a Fourier transform to the module of the signal        S(t) and the module of the modified FID signal {tilde over        (s)}(t); subtracting the spectrum of the module of the signal        S(t) from the spectrum of the module of the modified FID signal        {tilde over (s)}(t); then subtracting the result obtained in the        previous step from the spectrum of the module of the modified        {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.        Thus, the first subtraction is equivalent to isolating the        “sidebands” which are present in the modified signal {tilde over        (s)}(t) after the step of “calculating the module of the        modified FID signal {tilde over (s)}(t)” whereas they had been        previously removed by the taking into account of the module of        the signal S(t). As for the second subtracting, it makes it        possible to eliminate the sidebands of the modified {tilde over        (s)}(t) FID signal. The invention thus makes it possible to        efficiently eliminate the sidebands and more generally all the        antisymmetric artefacts, i.e. the artefacts having frequencies        distributed symmetrically with respect to the resonance        frequency of the reference signal, the amplitudes of which are        equal and have opposite signs.

According to one embodiment, during the step of acquiring, complex FIDsignals S(t) from several voxels of the sample are acquired, and whereina spatial filtering step is performed after calculating the module ofthe modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal for each of the voxels.

Spatial filtering is applicable as soon as CSI are involved, whetherthey are acquired by one or more coil(s).

Typically, the spatial filtering comprises the following steps in thecase of a CSI having two spatial dimensions: multiplying each row andeach column of the CSI matrix, using a “bell” (e.g. Gaussian, cosine,Hanning, Hamming, . . . ) function prior to a Fourier transform in thespatial domain. This is the reason why, when a spatial filtering isdesired to be executed after calculating the module, the inverse Fouriertransform is executed in the spatial domain so as to return to the kspace.

This represents an important advantage within the scope of a particularCSI. As a matter of fact, if the spatial filtering is performed afterprocessing the module, the spectra of the voxels of the CSI are alignedin phase and frequency. On the contrary, if the spatial filtering isexecuted prior to extracting the module, the voxels concerned are notaligned in phase and frequency and the resolution of the resultingspectrum can be degraded, thus causing a decrease in the SNR. It shouldbe reminded here that a CSI analysis involves the processing of aplurality of voxels and may for example result in a plurality ofspectra, with each corresponding to a voxel or a two-dimension image,for example.

After the step of calculating the module of the modified FID {tilde over(s)}(t) signal and for identifying and/or quantifying the species to becharacterized from the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal, a Fourier transform can, according to one embodiment, be appliedto a signal comprising at least the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal. The FFT is preferably applied to the module of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal. A spectrum is thus obtained,whereon it is very easy, even for an operator to identify the species bytheir frequency and to quantify same by the peak area they define. Ifthe sample comprises several voxels, one spectrum per voxel will then beobtained.

After the step of calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal and for identifying and/or quantifying the species tobe characterized from the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal, applying a Fourier transform to a signal comprising at least themodule of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal can, according toanother embodiment, be avoided. The identification and/or quantificationin the time domain is then carried out. In this case, well-knownsoftware makes it possible to sum elementary FIDs, each corresponding toa species, so as to approximate the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal. The elementary FIDs selected and the coefficientassociated therewith to best reconstruct the modified module of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal give information on the natureand the quantification of the species present in the sample. It shouldbe noted here that even though such step of quantifying is carried outin the time domain, it is often recommended to execute a Fouriertransform in order to be able to view the result.

According to one embodiment, the content of the reference species in thesolvent is at least greater than 5 times, preferably 10 times,preferably 10³ times and more preferably 10⁵ times the content of eachspecies to be characterized. In the present invention, the content ofthe at least one species to be characterized is the mass content in thesample. According to one embodiment, the signal of the reference speciesis used as a carrier for the signal of the at least one species to becharacterized. According to one embodiment, the content of the referencespecies in the sample is sufficiently higher than the content of thespecies to be characterized in the sample for the signal of thereference species to be used as the carrier for the signal of the atleast one species to be characterized. The reference species has aresonance frequency.

According to one embodiment, the relative content of the referencespecies and of the at least one species to be characterized, as well astheir relative relaxation time are so chosen that the amplitude of thesignal of the reference species is at least twice the amplitude of thesignal of the at least one species to be characterized. The sample isthus so selected that, in each acquired complex FID signal S(t), theamplitude of the reference signal of the species is at least twice theamplitude of that of the least one species to be characterized.Preferably, the sample is so selected that in each acquired complex FIDsignal S(t), the amplitude of the signal of the reference species is atleast three times, or even at least five times, or even at least tentimes greater, or even at least a hundred times than the amplitude ofthat of each of the species to be characterized.

The FID module of a sample comprising the species to be characterized isequal to ∥S(t)∥ which is defined by the following equation:∥S(t)∥=|A _(H2O)(t)+A ₀(t)cos(Δωt+Δφ)|wherein:Δω=ω−ω_(H2O) and Δφ=φ−φ_(H2O) respectively correspond to the frequencyand phase offsets between the at least one species to be characterizedand the reference species,A_(H2O)(t) is the amplitude versus time of the FID signal of thereference species,A₀(t) is the amplitude versus time of the FID signal of the species tobe characterized.

According to one embodiment, during the step of acquiring, a pluralityof complex FID signals S(t) is acquired.

According to one embodiment, the step of calculating the module of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal is performed for each modified{tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.

According to one embodiment, after the step of calculating the module ofthe modified FID signal {tilde over (s)}(t) for each complex FID signalS(t) and before the step of identifying and/or quantifying the speciesto be characterized, A summation of the modules of the modified signals{tilde over (s)}(t) is advantageously executed so as to obtain acombined FID signal. Advantageously, the step of identifying and/orquantifying the species to be characterized comprises applying a Fouriertransform to said summation.

According to one advantageous embodiment, the antennas are coils and theacquired complex FID signals are delivered by the same coil. In thisembodiment, the invention advantageously makes it possible to make aneffective and simple correction of the phase shift and frequency offsetdue in particular to the sample movements during the acquisition.

According to an advantageous embodiment, the antennas are coils and theacquired complex FID signals are delivered by different coils. In thisembodiment, the invention advantageously makes it possible to execute aneffective and simple correction of the phase shift of each coil withrespect to each other, and to the phase shift and frequency offset duein particular to the inhomogeneity of the field B0.

According to one advantageous embodiment, the antennas are coils and theacquired complex FID signals are delivered by different coils andseveral complex FID signals are acquired for at least some coils. Inthis embodiment, the invention advantageously enables an efficient andsimple correction of the phase shift and the frequency offset moreparticularly caused by the movements of the sample and the inhomogeneityof B0.

Advantageously, after the generation of a FID module for each complexFID signal, and prior to the summing of the FID modules to obtain acombined FID signal, a step of calculating a weighting factor for eachcoil is executed and each FID module is weighted by the weighting factorof the coil by which it has been delivered. The step of calculating aweighting factor is advantageously performed using the method of the sumof squares of the amplitudes at the start of the FID module.

According to one advantageous embodiment, during the step of acquiring,a single complex FID signal S(t) is acquired, a unique FID spectrum S(ω)is obtained by applying a Fourier transform to the real and complexparties of said single complex FID signal S(t). During the step ofidentifying and/or quantifying the species to be characterized, aFourier transform is applied to a single module of the modified {tildeover (s)}(t) FID signal.

According to one embodiment, during the step of acquiring, a spatiallyencoded FID signal is acquired, this acquisition is repeated severaltimes, preferably at least twice, to obtain several encoded signals,with each of said encoded signals being subsequently decoded so that itis associated with a voxel of the sample and a FID module is generatedfor the FID signal associated with each voxel.

According to one embodiment, the sample is a sample of biologicalmaterial, the reference species is water and the species to becharacterized are metabolites. According to an alternative embodiment,the sample is a chemical composition, the reference species is water oranother solvent and the species to be characterized are chemicalcompounds.

According to one embodiment, the sample comprises several species to becharacterized.

According to one embodiment, the constant field B0 is applied to severalvoxels of a sample and the frequency spectra of the combined FID signalsof the different voxels are used to generate one or more spectroscopicimage(s).

Prior to the acquisition of the FID signals, a conventional step ofsettings necessary for performing an NMR spectroscopy experiment iscarried out.

According to one embodiment, the analysis is a spectroscopic or aspectrometric analysis.

According to one embodiment, the species to be characterized has atleast a first resonance frequency located on the right of the resonancefrequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species and at least a secondresonance frequency located on the left of the resonance frequencyF_(0Ref) of the reference species. The method according to the inventionis preferably executed for each one of the two half spectra. The step f.is thus performed while considering that said second portion of thespectrum is the portion located on the left of the resonance frequencyF_(0Ref) of the reference species, so as to obtain a first modified FID{tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum representing the first resonance frequency.The step f. is thus performed while considering that said second portionof the spectrum is the portion located on the right of the resonancefrequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species, so as to obtain a secondmodified FID {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum representing the secondresonance frequency.

The steps g. and h. are preferably applied to each one of the first andsecond modified FID {tilde over (S)}(ω), spectra.

The implementation of the method of the invention is preferably computercontrolled.

According to another embodiment, the present invention relates to acomputer program product or a non-transient computer-readable mediacomprising instructions, which, when executed by at least one processorexecutes at least the steps c. to h. of the method according to theinvention, as mentioned above.

According to another embodiment, the present invention relates to asystem for analyzing, using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), at leastone sample comprising at least one species to be characterized and areference species, with the sample content being more than twice greaterthan the content of the at least one species to be characterized, withthe system comprising means for applying the constant magnetic field B0to the sample and means for applying a field generating anelectromagnetic excitation in the constant field B0 and comprising atleast one antenna so configured as to acquire one or more complex freeinduction decay (FID) signal(s) S(t) in the time domain, with eachcomplex FID signal S(t) comprising a real part and an imaginary part,characterized in that the system comprises processing means soconfigured as to execute the following steps:

-   -   obtaining a spectrum S(ω) by applying a Fourier transform to the        real and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal        S(t), with the spectrum S(ω) obtained then comprising the        reference species and the species to be characterized and having        two portions (UFR, DFR) each extending from the resonance        frequency of the reference species (F_(0Ref)) respectively on        either side of F_(0Ref), with the frequency of the species to be        characterized being located on a first portion of the spectrum        taken among said two portions (UFR, DFR);    -   modeling the signal of the reference species Sref(t) from the        real and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal        S(t);    -   obtaining a spectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species comprising        only the reference species, by applying a Fourier transform to        the modeling of the signal of the reference species Sref(t),        with the spectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species then having        two portions extending from the resonance frequency of the        reference species (F_(0Ref′)) of the spectrum Sref(ω) and        extending respectively on either side of F_(0Ref′);    -   obtaining a modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrum, by        substituting a second portion of the FID spectrum S(ω), with        said second portion being the portion taken from said two        portions (UFR and DFR) of the spectrum S(ω) and which does not        comprise the species to be characterized, by the portion of the        spectrum Sref(ω) taken from the two portions of the spectrum        extending from F_(0Ref′) of the spectrum Sref(ω) and extending        on the same side as said second portion of the spectrum S(ω);    -   applying an inverse Fourier transform to the modified {tilde        over (S)}(ω) spectrum to obtain a modified {tilde over (s)}(t)        FID signal in the time domain;    -   calculating the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID        signal.

Optionally but advantageously, the system according to the invention mayalso have at least any one of the following optional characteristicswhich may be taken alone or in combination:

According to one embodiment, the system comprises processing means soconfigured as to perform a step of identifying and/or quantifying thespecies to be characterized from the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal.

Optionally, the system is so configured as to apply a Fourier transformto a signal taking into account the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal. Optionally, it comprises one or more antenna(s) soconfigured as to acquire a plurality of complex FID signals S(t),

Optionally, it is further so configured as to, after the step ofcalculating the module of the modified FID {tilde over (s)}(t) signalfor each complex signal S(t) of said plurality of complex FID signalsS(t), execute the summing of the modules of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signals so as to obtain a combined FID signal and apply saidFourier transform to said combined FID signal.

According to one embodiment, the system comprises processing means soconfigured as to perform a step of calculating the module of the complexFID signal S(t) and so as to perform the following steps aftercalculating (1326) the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal:

-   -   subtracting the module of the complex FID signal S(t) from the        module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal and then        subtracting the result obtained in the previous step from the        module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal; or,        according to an alternative solution:    -   applying a Fourier transform to the module of the complex FID        signal S(t) and the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t)        FID signal; then subtracting the spectrum of the module of the        signal {tilde over (s)}(t) from the spectrum of the module of        the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal; then subtracting        the result obtained in the previous step from the spectrum of        the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.

In the present invention, the term antenna refers to any type ofelectromagnetic waves receiver.

According to another embodiment, the invention relates to a method fornuclear magnetic resonance analysis (NMR) of at least one samplecomprising at least one species to be characterized and a referencespecies taken from water or a solvent, with the content of the referencespecies in the solvent being at least greater than twice the content ofthe at least one species to be characterized. The method comprises thefollowing steps of:

-   -   a. applying at least one constant field B₀ to the at least one        sample,    -   b. acquiring, by one or more antenna(s) one or more complex free        induction decay (FID) signal(s), with each complex FID signal        comprising a real part and an imaginary part, with the        acquisition step being performed so that, in each complex FID        signal the amplitude of the signal of the reference species is        at least twice greater than the amplitude of that of the at        least one species to be characterized;    -   c. for each complex FID signal, generation of a FID module        obtained by extracting the module of each complex FID signal    -   d. applying a Fourier transform to a signal taking into account        the FID module, with such step being optional.        All the above-mentioned characteristics may be combined with        this embodiment.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE FIGURES

The goals and objectives as well as the characteristics and advantagesof the invention will better emerge from the detailed description of anembodiment of the latter which is illustrated by the following appendeddrawings wherein:

FIG. 1 briefly describes the type of FID signals detected by any antennaof known NMR equipment.

FIG. 2 compares, from the case of a single antenna and a singleacquisition of a FID signal, the method of the invention and theconventional processing of the FID signal.

FIG. 3 illustrates the case where several acquisitions are successivelyperformed to obtain a FID signal having a sufficient SNR to be operated.

FIG. 4 compares experimental results that illustrate the advantage ofusing the module for the processing of the FID signals.

FIG. 5 illustrates the case where a spectroscopic image of a volume oftissue comprising a plurality of voxels is acquired.

FIG. 6 compares experimental results obtained for two voxels located atdifferent positions in a human brain.

FIG. 7 illustrates the case where the FID signals are acquired from anantenna array.

FIG. 8 illustrates the steps of the method of the invention forprocessing the FID signals captured from an antenna array and comparessame to those of a conventional processing.

FIG. 9 compares experimental results obtained from an antenna array.

FIGS. 10a and 10b describe the artefacts aliasing resulting from the useof the module for processing NMR signals.

FIGS. 11a to 11c describe a method according to one embodiment of theinvention, a so-called DFRR method, wherein a left half of the spectrumrepresenting one model of the reference species (water) is substitutedfor the left half of the spectrum illustrated in FIG. 10 a.

FIGS. 11d and 11e describe a method according to one embodiment of theinvention, wherein a right half of the spectrum representing one modelof the reference species (water) illustrated in FIG. 11a is substitutedfor another half of the spectrum illustrated in FIG. 10 a.

FIGS. 12a to 12f describe the processing of the antisymmetric artefactsor “sidebands”, according to one particular embodiment of the invention.

FIG. 13 is a flow chart of the steps of one embodiment of the method forcorrecting phase and/or frequency in FID signals according to theinvention.

FIG. 14 illustrates the noise simulation results obtained with differentimplementations of the method of the invention.

FIG. 15 shows spectra extracted from the same voxel of a long echo CSIacquisition on a brain without water suppression.

FIG. 16 shows two spectra of the same voxel of a short echo CSIacquisition performed on a brain with a partial suppression of water.

FIG. 17 illustrates the differences which can be achieved when themodule is processed before or after the spatial filtering on a shortecho CSI acquisition on a phantom.

FIG. 18 is the same illustration as the previous figure on a brain.

FIG. 19 shows the influence of applying the processing of the modulebefore or after the spatial filtering on a long echo CSI acquisition ofa brain.

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate the same effect as the one of the precedingfigure on a CSI acquisition performed firstly on a phantom and,secondly, on a patient.

FIG. 22 is a flow chart of the steps of one embodiment of the methodaccording to the invention.

FIG. 23 illustrates the need to preserve at least a part of thereference signal during the acquisition in order to efficientlyimplement the method of the invention.

The drawings attached are given as examples and are not limiting to theinvention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

FIG. 1 briefly describes the type of signals detected by any antenna ofNMR equipment. The signal may be observed after each emission of anelectromagnetic pulse B1 used to disturb the hydrogen nuclei, or protonswhich are steady in the constant magnetic field B0. As seen above, theRF frequency used should preferably be resonating with the Larmorfrequency of protons for the intensity of the magnetic field B0developed by the NMR equipment considered and which is all the higher asthe field B0 is great. As mentioned above, it grows by 42 MHz per Tesla.

The detected NMR signal is called a FID (for “free induction decay”)signal. It is representative of the return to a steady-state of thenuclei after the electromagnetic disturbance which they are subject tohas ceased. Using conventional means which are not described and whichare not necessary for understanding the invention, the captured FIDsignal is delivered by an elementary volume unit of the area covered bythe antenna 101. Such elementary entity is called a voxel 110. Thephysical size of a voxel depends on the volume resolution of the NMRequipment used.

The signal captured by the antenna is conventionally processed by anelectronic receiver 120 mainly comprising an analog amplifier 121 andtwo analog-to-digital converters (ADCs) 124. As a matter of fact, afteramplification, a frequency conversion and a quadrature detection of theFID analog signal captured by the antenna 122 is conventionally carriedout from signals offset by 90°. The frequency conversion is intended totranspose the FID signal into a frequency range compatible with theoperation of the following ADCs. After filtering 123, a complex signalhaving a so-called “real” and a so-called “imaginary” portion is thusobtained for each antenna. The two real analog electrical signals thusobtained are then each sampled by an ADC 124 so as to have a complex FIDsignal in a digital form 130 having a “real” component 132 and an“imaginary” component 131, i.e. in quadrature with the real part.Typically, for each captured FID signal, the number of digital sampleswhich are available for each channel is of the order of 210 i.e. 1024samples. The digital signal 130 is thus liable to be processed using allthe software and material resources that have been developed for decadesfor the digital processing of analog signals. Such resources moreparticularly comprise specialized digital, so-called “signal processors”and specific algorithms specifically those for implementing the Fouriertransforms which make it possible to execute a spectral analysis of thereceived time signals.

The diagrams 140 and 150 show, in analog form, the two components of anexemplary FID signal. These are, respectively, the real part and theimaginary part of a FID signal captured by the antenna afteramplification, conversion and quadrature detection of the signal.

As a first approximation, the FID signal is a simple decreasingexponential function. As a matter of fact, as the FID signal can beaffected by many external sources, the fact of introducing amplitudedepending on time makes it possible to make no assumption about theshape thereof. As regards the mathematical calculation, each antennasignal is thus a complex expression which is a function of time (t) ofthe form: A(t)=A0(t)ej(ωt+φ) where ω is the water resonance frequencyand φ the phase distortion.

The example in FIG. 1 shows the simple case of a single acquisition ofthe FID signal from a single antenna. Indeed, it is assumed in thissimple example that the captured signal has sufficient amplitude to beprocessed after a single acquisition and that it is not necessary tocarry out several successive acquisitions to improve the SNR as will beseen in some of the cases described below.

It may be noted here that if the patient moves during the acquisition ofa FID then there is a change in frequency and phase between thebeginning of the FID and the end of the FID which may cause amodification in the form of the lines after the Fourier transform andcould reduce the accuracy of the results obtained with the methodaccording to the invention. This is unlikely, in practice, because timefor acquiring a FID is a few milliseconds. On the contrary, if thepatient moves between the time the frequency was adjusted and the timethe acquisition of the FID (from 1 to several seconds) is started, thisis the case described below.

It should also be noted that the water signal is normally “resonant”,i.e. the receiver conversion frequency is adjusted exactly on theresonance frequency of the water signal. When this adjustment iscorrect, the water signal actually appears as a decreasing exponentialfunction. When this adjustment is not correct, the frequency of thewater signal is slightly different from the conversion frequency. Thisresults in an oscillation of the FID signal. The decreasing exponentialfunction is then modulated by a sine wave the frequency of which isequal to the difference between the frequency of the water signal andthe receiver frequency conversion. The oscillation of the FID signal ofFIG. 1 shows the frequency offset. A exactly “resonating” acquiredsignal would be similar to the one on the diagram 222 of FIG. 2. Asregards the signal phase, it is arbitrary because the phase of thereceived FID signal is completely independent of the phase of thereceiver conversion signal. The frequency conversion in the receiver isobtained by subtracting a signal having a frequency equal to the Larmorfrequency from the FID signal. But the receiver does not know the phaseof the FID signal. A random offset therefore necessarily occurs betweenthe phase of the signal used by the receiver and the phase of the watersignal. This is shown in the figure by the fact that the first point ofthe FID is generally not real. The coordinates of such first point inthe complex plane are, in this example approximately (−60, −100), ifreference is made to the diagrams 140 and 150. If the signal were reallyin phase, the coordinates of this point would be (116.0) i.e. 116 forthe real part, and 0 for the imaginary part.

FIG. 2 compares, from the case of FIG. 1, i.e., the one of a singleantenna and a single signal acquisition, the method of the invention andthe conventional processing of the FID signal.

As seen in the previous figure, the signal captured by an antenna has areal part 140 and an imaginary part 150. The conventional processing ofthe FID signal is therefore performed in the complex plane. Thecorresponding Fourier transform 210, which makes it possible to switchfrom the time domain to the frequency domain and to obtain a spectralanalysis of the received signal reflects the frequency and phase shifts213 possibly present in the complex signal 130, thus obtaining thefrequency spectrum 212 to which a phase 214 and frequency 216 correctionmust be successively applied to return to the resonant water signal 211,i.e. set to the frequency 0 of the Fourier transform.

As mentioned in the description of FIG. 1, the complex NMR signal isobtained by shifting the phase of a portion of the received signal by90°. However, the collected signal is real, and once all the operationshave been conducted in the complex plane, for mathematical convenience,the obtained spectrum is so arranged as to be real too. To this end, theimaginary part introduced for reasons of ease of calculation is thenremoved. If it is assumed that the FID signal is a decreasingexponential function, narrow so-called “Lorentzian” lines are obtainedsuch as those shown in the diagram 214. The lines of diagram 212 are amixture of Lorentzian and dispersed lines. The phasing operation orphasing consists in recovering the Lorentzian lines in the real part andin putting the dispersed lines in the imaginary part. Once thisoperation is completed, the imaginary part can be put aside and work canbe carried out on the real part only.

The frequency offset is the same as the one previously described inFIG. 1. In FIG. 1 it results in a modulation of the FID signal whileFIG. 2 is a spectral representation thereof. The frequency offset is, inthis case, as mentioned above, due to the difference between thedemodulation frequency used by the receiver and the actual frequency ofthe water signal.

It should be noted here that it must be possible to differentiate theso-called “global” phase and frequency, as described above, from theso-called “relative” phase and frequency which correspond to a phase orfrequency difference as compared to another FID signal, or to anotherlocation. If two FID signals are successively acquired, these will bothhave the same phase and the same global frequency since the receiverdemodulation signal has not changed from one FID signal to the otherone. On the contrary, if the patient has moved during the acquisition,the phase and the frequency of the second FID signal will be slightlydifferent from the first one. This is also the case for the FID signalsdelivered by different voxels as in the case of a so-called CSI analysisdescribed in FIG. 5 (a CSI analysis, the acronym for “chemical shiftimaging” means the “chemical shift imaging” of the resonance frequencyof the nuclei as already briefly discussed above). The phase and thefrequency delivered by different voxels will be slightly different dueto the variations of the field B0, but the “global” frequency and phasewill be the same for all voxels.

So, two corrections will have to be made: a general one which consistsin correcting the phase and frequency variations generated by theconverter, then a correction of the small variations induced by thepatient's movement or the changes in the field B0, FID per FID or voxelper voxel.

The invention makes it possible to execute both operations at once.

The processing according to the invention of the signal captured by theantenna starts with the calculation of the module 220 of the complexsignal 130 as defined above.

In the complex expression mentioned above and which is a function oftime (t) A(t)=A0(t)ej(ωt+φ), the term A0(t) is the module or amplitudeof the complex signal. This module is independent of the frequency andthe phase. From a practical point of view, the module at each moment tis thus the square root of the sum of squares of the real and imaginaryparts of the FID signal at that moment, as captured and converted by theelectronic module 120 associated with each antenna.

Thus, at each moment t, the module of the FID signal is defined byModule FID(t)=|A(t)|=(A ₀(t)²·[cos(ωt+φ)²+sin(ωt+φ)²])^(1/2)As the term [cos(ωt+φ)²+sin(ωt−φ)²]=1, the module of the FIDsignal(t)=A0(t) is obtained. As the disturbance phase and frequency hasbeen dealt with, the quantification of A0(t) which is actually thepurpose of the experiment can now be discussed.

The signal obtained thus corresponds, at each moment, to the FID module.It is called, in the present patent application, “FID module” or simplymodule.

An example of this type of signal is illustrated in diagram 222.

The Fourier transform 230 is then applied to the FID module 222 toobtain its frequency spectrum 232. As the module of the signal capturedby the antenna carries no frequency or phase information, it thereforedoes not require the corrections 214 and 216 of the conventionalprocessing method briefly described above to be applied thereto.

In particular, the water spectrum 231 is then always centred on thefrequency 0. The spectrum of the module which is a signal having a realpart only is characterized in that it is symmetrical 233. It is directlyusable by the following processes which are specific to each NMRapplication. The invention thus eliminates the need for steps dedicatedto phase and frequency corrections, with these steps usually requiring asignificant processing time, often even a manual action by an operator.A sample will preferably be selected which, with a conventional solutionbased on a Fourier transform in the time domain, has no signal on eitherside of the frequency corresponding to the one of the major species.

As the spectrum of the module is symmetrical, one of the halves isgenerally retained. It should also be noted that the Fourier transformof the FID module is simpler especially because the amount of data to beprocessed is half the one that must be conventionally processed whenoperations are carried out simultaneously on the real parts and theimaginary parts of the captured FID signals. The processing time is thussignificantly reduced which enables a real time processing withoutaffecting users. In particular, it should be noted that working on areal signal only makes it possible to divide by 2 the occupation of thecomputer RAM. This enables to work on a larger data volume withoutslowing down the machine. Moreover, having to keep only half of thespectrum after the processing divides by four the total volume of datato be saved. The gain in computing time is effectively achieved only ifthe size of the data exceeds the size of the memory allocated by thecomputer. However, this is often the case for so-called CSI analyses,more particularly described in FIG. 5, which are executed in highresolution and involve sizes of data up to four gigabytes, i.e. 4×10⁹bytes.

The SNR surprisingly remains perfectly satisfactory, although part ofthe information captured by the antennas (phase information) iseliminated when taking into account the FID module.

It should be noted here that the invention more specifically concernsNMR applications which relate to the analysis of secondary peaks 234which appear in the spectral decomposition and which are generated bymetabolites possibly present in the examined tissues. The water makingup the major part of the tissue generates a signal with very highamplitude 231 which acts as a carrier and as a reference for thesecondary peaks 234 which are to be detected and which are specific, inthe considered voxel, of the presence of metabolites. These create a“chemical shift”, i.e. a term used in the English literature on thesesubjects to qualify a “chemical offset or shift” of the precessionfrequency of the resonant nuclei. The frequency shift or offset appearsin the spectral decomposition in the form of staggered secondary peakswhich indicate the presence of such metabolites. The frequency offset ischaracteristic of the nature of the metabolite. The peak area, relativeto that of water, makes it possible to quantify the concentrationthereof in the examined tissue.

FIG. 3 illustrates the case where several successive acquisitions 310are necessary to obtain a FID signal having a sufficient SNR to beoperated by the application.

The conventional processing, and processing according to the invention,of the FID signal are essentially identical to what is described in FIG.2. The only differences concern the steps of summation. In theconventional processing, the real 320 and imaginary 330 parts of thesuccessive FID signals captured should be separately summed. On thecontrary, in the processing according to the invention, the module 340of each FID signal is first calculated. Only the FID modules then needto be summed 350 before the Fourier transform 230 is applied to theresulting module, which substantially simplifies the calculation processin the case of the invention. In this case the summation is performed onphased signals aligned relative to each other, unlike the conventionalcase. This provides an optimum SNR.

FIG. 4 compares experimental results which illustrate the advantage ofusing the module 420 for processing FID signals instead of using theseparate conventional processing of the real parts and imaginary parts410.

FIGS. 410 et 420 focus on the interesting part of each of these spectrai.e. they show the parts relating to the metabolites only. The watersignal and the symmetrical volume signal have been removed so as to makethe region 422 of the spectrum more visible.

The diagram 420 shows that the module processing significantly improvesthe SNR of the captured FID signal and reduces the width of the spectrumlines. In particular, as shown in this example, the reduction in thewidth of the lines reveals some small secondary resonances 422 whichwere not visible in the conventional spectrum. The invention thus makesit possible to detect species which were hardly detectable or evennon-detectable with the solutions of the prior art. The shape of theresonances 424 is also improved.

It is known that the correction of the phase and the frequency shift oroffset of each FID, shown in FIG. 2, prior to summation, should improvethe width of the spectrum lines and the SNR. In practice this correctionis however never executed because of the difficulty met in finding thephase and frequency of each FID in real time before summation. Using themodule of the FID signal as in the invention is thus a fast, simple androbust way of correcting the effect of the movements of the target whichare the main origin of the phase and frequency shifts observed uponacquiring the FID signals.

FIG. 5 illustrates the case where a spectroscopic image of a volume oftissue comprising several voxels is acquired. This type of CSI analysisis conventionally executed by superimposing magnetization gradients tothe fixed magnetization B0 so as to perform a spatial discrimination ofthe signals delivered by each voxel. This case is similar to the oneshown in FIG. 1 but relates to a volume of voxels 510 wherein phase andfrequency shifts due to inhomogeneities of the magnetic field B0 can beseen.

It should be noted here that whatever is done in the spatial domain isidentical to what is conventionally done in NMR imaging. A Fouriertransform is executed to switch from the signals encoded by the magneticfield gradients to the spatially resolved signals as it is used toswitch from one FID signal to the spectrum thereof. The Fouriertransform which converts the FID signal into a spectrum works on a timesignal and transforms it into a frequency signal, which explains thename time (or frequency) TF. The Fourier transform which transforms thesignals encoded by the gradients into an NMR image works in the spatialdimension. This processing is specific to a CSI analysis and is carriedout upstream, even before the invention is applied. FIG. 5 shows thatthe technique of the invention is compatible with that of CSI analyses.

As seen above, the global corrections are those executed on all FIDsignals, identically. This mainly relates to the frequency and phaseoffsets between the receiver demodulation signal and the actuallyacquired signal. The local or relative corrections are the ones whichrelate to the phase and frequency differences noted between two acquiredFID signals, either delivered by two different coils or successivelydelivered by the same coil or still if the FID signals are delivered byspatially different regions. Depending on the case, the differencesnoted are caused by: a patient's movement, the coil electronics, thespatial variations in the field B0s or a combination of these phenomena.

FIG. 6 compares experimental results obtained under the conditionsdescribed in the previous figure for two voxels located at differentpositions in a human brain.

The diagrams 610 and 620 on the one hand, and 630 and 640 on the otherhand, respectively describe the signals obtained for two voxels atdifferent positions (1 and 2) with a conventional processing of thecaptured FID signals and a processing of their modules according to theinvention.

It should be noted that the frequency 650 and phase 660 offsets thatappear in the conventional processing of the captured signals no longerappear 670 in the processing of the module, which significantly improvesthe quantification thereof.

It should be noted here that, in the case described in FIGS. 5 and 6above, i.e. the acquisition of CSI signals, multiple acquisitions mayalso have to be executed to improve the SNR. The invention will alsoapply, as described above, and particularly as described in FIG. 3 witha summation of the FID modules.

FIG. 7 illustrates the case where the FID signals are acquired from anantenna array as discussed in the section on the state of the art. Theinvention is particularly advantageous in this complex case where thesignificant differences, more particularly relating to phase, which mayexist between the individual antennas, must also be easily corrected.

In this case, the FID signal emitted by each voxel 110 is captured byseveral antennas. Two antennas 101 and 102 are shown in this example. Alarger number thereof are commonly associated, for example eight-antennanetworks are frequently used. Each individual antenna has its ownreceiving system, 1201 and 1202 in this example, each delivering acomplex FID signal, 1301 and 1302.

The diagrams 710 and 730 on the one hand, and 720 and 740 on the otherhand are respectively examples of the real parts and imaginary parts ofthe complex FID signals delivered by each of the antennas. As expected,significant differences 750 in the phase and amplitude of the signalscaptured by the individual antennas of the antenna array can be noted.

It should be noted here that a global phase and frequency shift existswhich is common to all individual antennas in the array, however theindividual differences in phase and amplitude between the antennas mustalways be compensated as will be seen hereafter.

FIG. 8 illustrates the steps of the method of the invention forprocessing FID signals captured from an antenna array and comparing sameto those of a conventional processing thereof.

The method of the invention is extremely simple and is not significantlydifferent from what is described in FIG. 3 for the subsequentacquisition of FID signals from a single antenna. In the case of FIG. 8the signals are acquired, preferably simultaneously, and a module 340 iscalculated for each of the signals acquired from the individual antennas101 and 102 in this example. Multiple acquisitions in the case of anantenna array are of course not excluded, as in FIG. 3.

A notable difference, in the case of an antenna array, is that, duringthe next step 810, a correction of the amplitude of the modulesdelivered by different antennas is required so as to take into accountall the inevitable differences between the individual antennas of thearray.

A method for applying the correction of the amplitude consists inperforming a weighting of each FID signal. A weighting factor may forexample be applied, for each FID module, to the coil by which it hasbeen delivered, with this weighting factor being equal to the square ofthe module FID at the time t=0 divided by the sum of the squares of themodules of each FID at time t=0.

The summing 350 of the modules, the amplitude of which has just beenweighted, is then executed. The spectral composition of the moduleresulting from the combination of the FID signals can then be calculatedusing a Fourier transform 230.

It should be noted that the weighting of the FID signals, thoughpreferable, is optional only.

By comparison, the much more complex conventional process is on the leftside of FIG. 8. This part should also be compared with FIG. 2, whichconcerns only a FID signal. It should be noted here that, in the case ofFIG. 2, the phase correction can be indifferently carried out before orafter the Fourier transformation since there is only one FID signal. Itis traditionally carried out manually after the Fourier transform as itis easier to visualize the phase variations on the spectrum than in theFID signal. In the case of FIG. 8, this correction is executedbeforehand, since the signals of the different coils are firstlyrecombined prior to the processing. However, executing the Fouriertransform of each signal of each coil, then the phasing and the summingthereof could also be envisaged. However, as many Fouriertransformations as there are coils should be executed, for example 64 if64 coils are used.

FIG. 9 compares experimental results obtained from an antenna arrayunder the conditions described in the previous figure.

The diagrams 910 and 920 show the spectra obtained after acquiring andsumming the FID signals, the Fourier transformation and the eliminationof the line of water in these examples, so as to better visualize themetabolites. Diagram 920 shows the real part of the spectrum obtainedafter the conventional processing of the FID signals. As mentionedearlier, the imaginary part is artificially introduced by the receiverand contains no additional information. It is therefore only used whenprocessing the signals, never in the presentation of the results. Thediagram 910 shows the result of the processing according to theinvention of the module of the FID signal. As already mentioned, theprocessing of the module results in a symmetrisation of the spectrum,one half of which only is kept. The peaks in the diagram 920 obtainedwith the known systems are in the diagram 910 obtained with the solutionof the invention. Thus, in spite of the loss of information caused bythe taking into account of the module prior to summing the differentFIDs, the metabolites may still be characterized. Characterizing aspecies usually involves identifying and/or quantifying the nature ofsuch species in the sample. It should further be noted that the peaksthereof are very narrow, which enables an accurate characterization andshows that the signal/noise ratio is not visibly degraded by theprocessing of the module of the signal according to the invention.

As shown in FIG. 9, it may be advantageous to remove water to improvethe acquisition of the signals from the metabolites. As a matter offact, in the brain, the water signal is much, by approximately 10⁵times, greater than that of the metabolites. In order to take alladvantage from the whole dynamics of the analog digital converters(ADCs), the water signal is often partially or completely removed beforeacquiring the FID signal.

In known methods and as in the case of the result of FIG. 920, whichillustrates a conventional processing, the water signal is typicallyeliminated in two steps. A first step is performed during theacquisition using a suitable sequence (i.e. attenuation in this case).As such suppression is never perfect, a second elimination is performedafter the summation to reduce the number of signals to be processed,usually just before the quantification of the spectra. As mentionedabove, the first suppression aims at reducing the amplitude of thesignal received by the analog-digital converter of the receiver, andthus at keeping the full coding range, which is typically 16 bits, fordigitalizing at best the smallest signals. The second step is performedto facilitate the quantification of the metabolites. For this purpose,the water signal is modelized by performing a singular valuedecomposition of the signal, while retaining, among the main componentsonly those which correspond to the water signal. A signal isreconstructed from these values which are subtracted from the spectrum.

However, as already seen, the water signal is used as the phase andfrequency reference signal within the scope of the invention. Water isthen only partially suppressed so as to keep a signal having sufficientamplitude to be used. As already mentioned above, the water signal canalso be used as the concentration reference for estimating the absoluteconcentrations of the metabolites. In this case the whole water signalhas to be obtained. It may be necessary to perform two successiveexperiments, one with a partial or total suppression of water and onewithout such suppression, in order to reconcile the imperatives of abetter visualization of the metabolites on the one hand and thequantification thereof on the other hand.

The theoretical aspects of the invention are supported by the followingmathematical developments.

If A(t) is the signal acquired from a voxel having a single compound,i.e. a single species, in the absence of noise, it is expressed as shownin the equation [1] below:A(t)=A ₀(t)e ^(j(ωt+φ))  [1]wherein A₀(t) is the waveform of the FID signal, ω is the resonancefrequency of the single compound and φ represents all the phasedistortions.

One way of correcting the phase distortions consists in taking themodule of the signal as shown in the equation [2] below:∥A(t)∥=A ₀(t)  [2]

The module also removes the frequency information and, after the Fouriertransform, the result is a “resonant” signal. If it is now assumed thatthe single compound corresponds to the peak of water, the followingexpression is obtained, while using the same notation as in the equation[3] below:H2O(t)=A _(H2O)(t)e ^(j(ω) ^(H2O) ^(t+φ) ^(H2O) ⁾  [3]

It should be noted here that, in these equations, the reference speciesis considered as being water. The invention is however not limited towater as the reference species. These equations may be used whilesubstituting any solvent used as the reference species for water.

When another compound is added to the water signal, the module of theacquired signal becomes:∥S(t)∥=√{square root over ((H2O(t)+A(t))*(H2O(t)+A(t)))}  [4]

In this expression, the character * indicates the complex conjugate. Theproduct under the square root can be written as follows, using theequations [1] and [3], after development:

$\begin{matrix}{{{S(t)}}^{2} = ( {{{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}e^{- {j{({{\omega_{H\; 2O}t} + \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}}}} +} } \\{ {{A_{0}(t)}e^{- {j{({{\omega\; t} + \varphi})}}}} )( {{{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}e^{j{({{\omega_{H\; 2O}t} + \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}}} + {{A_{0}(t)}e^{j{({{\omega\; t} + \varphi})}}}} )} \\{= {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}^{2} + {A_{0}(t)}^{2} + {{A_{0}(t)}{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}( {{e^{- {j{({{\omega_{H\; 2O}t} + \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}}}e^{j{({{\omega\; t} + \varphi})}}} +} }}} \\ {e^{j{({{\omega_{H\; 2O}t} + \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}}e^{- {j{({{\omega\; t} + \varphi})}}}} ) \\{= {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}^{2} + {A_{0}(t)}^{2} + {{A_{0}(t)}{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}( {e^{j{({{{({\omega - \omega_{H\; 2O}})}t} + \varphi - \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}} +} }}} \\ e^{- {j{({{{({\omega - \omega_{H\; 2O}})}t} + \varphi - \varphi_{H\; 2O}})}}} ) \\{= {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}^{2} + ( {A_{0}(t)}^{2} ) + {2{A_{0}(t)}{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}{\cos( {{( {\omega - \omega_{H\; 2O}} )t} + \varphi - \varphi_{H\; 2O}} )}}}}\end{matrix}\quad$

If the terms Δω=ω−ω_(H2O) and Δφ=φ−φ_(H2O) which respectively correspondto the frequency and phase shifts between the added compound and that ofwater are now introduced, we obtain:

$\quad\begin{matrix}{{{S(t)}}^{2} = {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}^{2} + ( {A_{0}(t)}^{2} ) + {2{A_{0}(t)}{A_{H\; 2O}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}}} \\{= {( {{A_{H2O}(T)} + {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{\Delta\omega t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}} )^{2} +}} \\{{A_{0}(t)}^{2} - ( {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}} )^{2}} \\{= {( {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)} + {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}} )^{2} +}} \\{{A_{0}(t)}^{2}( {1 - {\cos^{2}( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}} )^{2}} \\{= {( {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)} + {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}} )^{2} + ( {{A_{0}(t)}{\sin( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}} )^{2}}}\end{matrix}$and finally the equation

$\begin{matrix}{\begin{matrix}{{{S(t)}} = {\sqrt{\begin{matrix}{( {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)} + {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}} )^{2} +} \\( {{A_{0}(t)}{\sin( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}} )^{2}\end{matrix}}{\quad\quad}}} \\{= ⁠{( {{A_{H\; 2O}(t)} + {{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}} )\sqrt{1 + ( \frac{{A_{0}(t)}{\sin( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}{\begin{matrix}{{A_{H\; 2O}(t)} +} \\{{A_{0}(t)}{\cos( {{{\Delta\omega}\; t} + {\Delta\varphi}} )}}\end{matrix}} )^{2}}}}\end{matrix}\quad} & \lbrack 5\rbrack\end{matrix}$

Assuming that A_(H2O)(t) is very large as compared to A₂(t), as is thecase in all the experiments where water is not suppressed, the secondterm of the expression may be neglected. The following expression isthen obtained:∥S(t)∥=A _(H2O)(t)+A ₀(t)cos(Δωt+Δφ)  [6]

The description of the invention below takes into account what thetechnique showed in details in the preceding figures (FIGS. 1 to 9) andwhich consists in using the module of the FID signal and may, forcertain applications, be restrictive.

As a matter of fact, as already seen, using the module of the FIDsignals results in a symmetrisation of the spectrum around the frequencyof the reference species, usually water 1010, so that, as shown in FIGS.10a and 10b , the noise 1030 and the artefacts 1020, if any, which arelocated on the left of the spectrum are then superimposed on the signalresulting from the symmetrisation, as shown in FIG. 10b . Not only anincrease in noise, but also an aliasing of the artefacts in theinteresting part of the spectrum, the right one 1040 wherein themetabolites desired to be analyzed, are most commonly located, can thenbe noted.

The artefacts may have several causes. These reasons may include:

-   -   unwanted signals which may originate from the explored region or        regions near the explored area. Such signals should be        eliminated by the acquisition sequence, but this suppression may        be faulty, because of, for example, the subject's movements,        movements of objects around the magnet which may affect the        magnetic field (opening and/or closing a door in the room, for        example), poor homogeneity of the magnetic field, a variation        over time in the magnetic field.    -   signals which are desired but which, for the same reasons as        mentioned above, are shifted relative to their normal resonance        frequency. For example water coming from a region where the        inhomogeneity of the field results in the resonance frequency        thereof being off by several Hertz relative to the resonance        frequency of the explored region (the eye, the synovial fluid, .        . . ) may appear as an extra resonance.    -   electromagnetic interferences (radio wave, wifi, . . . ) which        are sensed by the NMR probe, and superimpose on the spectrum.    -   a spurious signal. For example, the acquisition sequences        comprise many pulses and certain combinations of such pulses may        create a spurious signal which superimposes on the spectrum.

As indicated above, whatever the cause of these artefacts, the latterand/or noise to the left of the water signal are found, by thesymmetrisation induced by the module, superimposed on the signal on theright side of water.

FIGS. 11a to 11c illustrate and briefly describe the solution providedby the invention to this problem.

As shown in FIG. 11a , the spectrum of water is first modelized from asample that is desired to be characterized. This modeling will be usedin the invention to substitute the corresponding portion of the modelfor half the acquired spectrum located on the left of the frequency ofthe reference species. The result shown in FIG. 11b is then obtained.The thus recomposed spectrum comprises no noise or artefact on the leftside. The right part corresponds to the acquired signal comprising thespecies to be characterized. The following steps are identical to thosewhich have been described previously: performing an inverse Fouriertransform to return to a FID in the time domain; extracting the moduleof the recomposed spectrum; then returning to the frequency domain,typically using a Fourier transform, so as to obtain a final spectrumwhich is not disturbed by noise and any artefacts from the left side asillustrated in FIG. 11 c.

It should be noted that the SNR is thus improved, as expected, by aratio of a square root of 2 relative to the corresponding value in FIG.10 b.

In order to modelize the carrier, i.e. the signal of the reference case,several techniques may be used. One such technique is widely used inthis domain, to modelize water. This modeling is then used to subtractthe modelized water signal from the NMR spectrum. Such modelingtechnique is known as the HLSVD, the acronym for “Hankel LanczosSingular Value Decomposition” i.e. “Hankel Lanczos' method for singularvalue decomposition”. When applied to the present invention to modelizethe signal of the reference species, the HLSVD method comprises thefollowing main steps:

A matrix is created from the FID signal (the first line of such matrixcontains the FID signal, the following lines contain the circularpermutations of this FID signal, by 1 point for the 2^(nd) line, by 2points for the 3^(rd) line, etc.)

This matrix is decomposed into eigenvalues and eigenvectors, and only 10or principal components are then retained.

Among such 10 or 20 (the choice is left to the user) major components,only those which appear at a frequency close to that of the water signal(e.g. 0.5 ppm around the position of the water signal) are retained. AFID signal is then reconstructed from such resonances. With suchdecomposition, the water signal, which may have an arbitrary shape, isdivided into several Lorentzian lines. The sum of such Lorentzian linesreproduces the shape of the water signal.

Reference may particularly be made to the following publicationconcerning such modeling technique: “SVD-Based Quantification ofMagnetic Resonance Signals”, by Pijnappel, Van den Boogaart, DE BEER,VAN ORMONDT and which was published in the “Journal of MagneticResonance” 97, 122-134 (1992).

The technique described in FIGS. 11a to 11c however shows anotherlimitation in the cases where antisymmetric artefacts are present in thecaptured spectrum generally called “sidebands” since they most oftentake the shape of peaks or side bands. Such type of artefacts 1210 isillustrated in the example of FIG. 12a . Such artefacts, in pairs, havesymmetric frequencies with respect to the resonance frequency of thereference signal, equal amplitudes and opposite signs. The processingthereof using the technique described in FIGS. 1 to 9, wherein themodule of the FID signals is used, results in superimposingantisymmetric artefacts in the spectral portion on the right of water.Such processing therefore leads to the automatic suppression of suchtype of unwanted artefacts and after such processing of the module ofthe signals a spectrum is indeed obtained as shown in FIG. 12b , wherethey no longer appear.

This advantage is of course lost when the technique briefly described inFIGS. 11a 11c , which makes it possible to reduce noise and to removethe asymmetrical artefacts 1020 of the type shown in FIG. 10a , isapplied beforehand.

The following figures thus describe a complete technique which improvesnoise and also makes it possible to remove the asymmetrical artefacts1210 of the “sideband” type, and asymmetrical 1020 ones.

Of course and as mentioned hereunder, the method according to theinvention does not only apply to the species having one or more peak(s)(resonance frequency) on only one side of the peak (resonance frequency)of the reference species.

Applying the invention to the peak(s) located on the right of the peakof the reference species, and separately applying the invention to thepeak(s) located on the left of the peak of the reference species issufficient for analyzing such a species.

This can be illustrated while referring to FIGS. 10a, 11a, 11b, 11c, 11dand lie. For this example, let us consider that the peak 1020 is not anartefact but a peak (i.e. a resonance frequency) of the species to becharacterized, typically a metabolite. Such species to be characterizedthus comprises the two following peaks 1020, 1040 (i.e. two resonancefrequencies) located on either side of the resonance peaking 1010 of thereference species.

The steps described above and illustrated in FIG. 10a, 11a, 11b, 11cmake it possible to obtain, in 11 c, a signal corresponding to theresonance peaking 1040. The modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signalrepresenting the resonance frequency 1040 (FIG. 11c ) is thus obtained,after calculating the module.

The steps described above and illustrated in FIG. 10a, 11a, 11d, 11emake it possible to obtain, in 11 c, a signal corresponding to theresonance peaking 1020. The step 11 d corresponds to the step 11 b, butinstead of substituting the left part of Sref(ω) for the left part ofthe signal S(ω), the right part of Sref(ω) of FIG. 11a is substitutedfor the right part of the signal S(ω) of FIG. 10a , i.e. the onecomprising the resonance peaking 1040, so as to keep the resonancepeaking 1020 of FIG. 10a . The modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signalrepresenting the resonance frequency 1020 (FIG. 11e ) is thus obtained,after calculating the module.

Each peak 1020, 1040 can thus be analyzed for a species to be analyzed.The nature of the species to be characterized (for instance ametabolite) as well as the content thereof can thus be identified byconsulting a database. Such database is consulted typically using acomputer. If such species is not known in the database, the resonancepeaking and the content thereof in the sample can be defined so as tomake a wider research or to qualify such species, for subsequentanalyzing purposes.

FIG. 13 shows in box 1310, the flow chart for the processing of themodule of the FID signals as described above in FIGS. 1 to 9 which moreparticularly applies to a CSI type process, in this example, withoutthis being restrictive. The steps which must be added to obtain theadditional results mentioned above, i.e. improving the SNR and removingthe artefacts, are comprised in box 1320. The additional processing iscalled hereinafter “DFRR”, the acronym for “Downfield regionreplacement” which refers to the replacement of part of the spectrum bya model as already described briefly in FIGS. 11a to 11c . Suchprocessing can also be described as the substitution of thecorresponding part of the spectrum of the reference signal for a part ofthe spectrum. The components of the flow chart which do not belong tosuch boxes are described hereafter.

From the stream of captured CSI raw data 1330, processing is appliedthereto, of the Fourier transform type in the spatial domain 1311. Thealgorithm used is of the FFT type, the acronym for “fast Fouriertransform”, which is widely used for processing digitized analogsignals. The FID of a first voxel S(t) is extracted 1313 from the CSIfile 1312 and processed using a modeling method such as the HLSVD methodmentioned above. The model of the signal of the reference species isthus extracted 1321 from the singular value decomposition by selectingthe resonance within a range of plus or minus 0.5 ppm (parts permillion) around the resonance of water. The signal of the referencespecies is designated by the generic term Sref(t). Such referencespecies is often water, in the example that follows, the term used forthe signal of the reference species will be. h2o(t) Of course, theinvention applies whichever the reference species, with the latter beingadvantageously taken from a solvent. Usually, h2o(t) is used to removethe signal of residual water and it is subtracted from the signal S(t).As regards the invention, both the FFT of S(t) and h2o(t) arecalculated, which leads to obtain respectively S(ω) and H2O(ω) thelatter term referring to the spectrum of the frequency of the signal ofthe reference species, typically water. This term is equivalent to theterm Sref(ω) which is also used in the present description, with suchterms being interchangeable regardless of the embodiment, particularlyin embodiments where the reference species is not water). These twosteps of calculating FFT are respectively referenced 1322 and 1323 inthe box 1320 of FIG. 13.

If the acquisition is executed with the signal of the resonatingreference species, S(ω) can be separated into two regions: the downfieldregion (DFR), which is one half of the part of the spectrum located onthe left of the signal of the reference species; and the upfield region(UFR) which is the other half of the part of the spectrum on the rightof the resonance of the reference species. Each of these two regionsextends from the resonance frequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species.

Similarly, the spectrum of the water signal modelized from S(t) can beseparated into two regions: the downfield region, which is one half ofthe part of the spectrum located on the left of the signal of thereference species; and the upfield region which is the other half of thepart of the spectrum on the right of the resonance of the referencespecies. Each one of these two regions extends from the resonancefrequency F_(0Ref′) of the reference species in this spectrum, resultingfrom the modeling. In practice, the resonance frequency of the signal ofthe reference case F_(0Ref′) of the modelled spectrum is equal to theresonance frequency of the signal of the reference species F_(0Ref) ofthe spectrum comprising all the species i.e.: F_(0Ref′)=F_(0Ref).

If it is now assumed that all the resonances of the metabolites ofinterest are located in the UFR part of the spectrum, the DFR containsonly noise and artefacts. This region may therefore be replaced by thesame region 1324 extracted from the model of the signal of water H2O(ω)without changing the quantification of the spectrum.

The region on the right of the reference species in the modelized signalH2O(ω) of the reference species is thus not subtracted from the signalS(ω) comprising the species to be characterized, but it replaces the DFRpart of the signal S(ω). The replacement 1324 of the DFR S(ω) by the DFRof H2O(ω) leads to a new signal of the spectrum {tilde over (S)}(ω)characterized by a DFR without noise and without artefacts that can bedescribed as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\_}{S}(\omega)} = {{{S(\omega)}\mspace{14mu}{if}\mspace{14mu}\omega} < 0}} \\{= {{H\; 2{O(\omega)}\mspace{14mu}{if}\mspace{14mu}\omega} > 0}}\end{matrix}\quad$

Using H2O(ω) as a model for the DFR does not introduce a break in thenew signal {tilde over (S)}(ω) as would be the case if the DFR hadsimply been made null or removed. The variable {tilde over (S)}(ω) isstill continuous; its derivative is also continuous. As alreadymentioned, this step 1324 in the process is called DFRR. If now theinverse fast Fourier transformation (iFFT) of {tilde over (S)}(ω) iscalculated 1325, a new FID {tilde over (s)}(t) obtained in the timedomain. Then the module of {tilde over (s)}(t) is calculated 1326 andreintroduced 1315 into the original CSI file.

This system has been preferably selected because the voxel shifttechnique used is based on the manipulation of the so-called k space(k-space) which is a data structure well known and widely used in NMR.The data is then reconstructed in the k-space.

Then, the standard processing 1360 can be performed as would be done onthe original raw data in the case of a conventional processing whichwould take a direct path 1340, as provided in the state of the art.

After the step of calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal and the reintroduction 1315 thereof into the CSIfile, applying a Fourier transform may be omitted, according to anembodiment. The identification and/or quantification in the time domainis then carried out. In this case, well-known software allows forexample to sum predetermined elementary FIDs and each corresponding to aspecies, so as to approximate the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal. The elementary FIDs selected and the coefficientassociated therewith to best reconstruct the modified module of themodified FID {tilde over (s)}(t) signal give information on the natureand the quantification of the species present in the sample.

Alternately and preferably, after the step of calculating the module ofthe modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal and the reintroduction 1315thereof into the original CSI file, a Fourier transform can be appliedthereto. A spectrum is then obtained for each of the modules of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal, with each of these spectracorresponding to a voxel.

A new composite spectrum

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)} = {{FFT}( {{\hat{s}(t)}} )}$is then obtained. However, the symmetrisation induced when processingthe module will now mix the UFR of the original spectrum with thecalculated DFR containing neither noise nor artefact. As previouslydescribed in FIGS. 1 to 9, the intensity of resonance of the metabolitesis always divided by a factor of two. In this optional implementation ofthe invention, noise is also reduced by the same factor, which leavesthe SNR unchanged. So the SNR is no longer degraded as before.

As already noted, in the presence of antisymmetric artefacts of the“sideband” type, those located in the DFR will be removed by the DFRRprocessing 1320. The removing of the “sidebands” in the DFR itselfaffects the cancellation thereof as already discussed above. Theinvention describes hereafter a solution to solve this problem. It isalso shown that the DFRR processing may also be used without watersuppression.

Although the example above is particularly advantageous when the methodis applied to CSI type (i.e. multi-voxel) imaging, this method does notlimit CSI imaging. As a matter of fact, it can be applied to asingle-voxel processing. In this case, the method will be much the same,except for the steps dedicated to spatial processing which are then nolonger necessary. The step of spatial filtering is particularlysuppressed.

Besides, although the species to be characterized are most often locatedon the right of the signal of the reference species, the invention alsoapplies to cases where the species to be characterized are located onthe left of the signal of the reference species.

As indicated in the above description, most of the time, the speciesdesired to be analyzed are located on the right of the reference signal.There may be species to be characterized on the left of water, but theyare not usually visible in normal spectroscopy/spectrometry, aspracticed in the biomedical industry. However, the invention extends tothe cases where the species to be characterized are located on the leftof the signal of the reference species. In this case, it is naturallythe right portion of the signal modelized from the reference speciesthat will be substituted for the right part of the spectrum of the FID,with the left part carrying the species to be characterized beingpreserved. For example, it will then be necessary to process thespectrum in two stages (in one case the DFR is kept, and the process isthen repeated while keeping the UFR). The species of the UFR may alsonot appear at the same distance from the reference signal as the speciesof the DFR and the symmetrisation may also create no problem in thiscase.

Thus and as mentioned above, the invention makes it possible to analyzespecies having resonance peaking on each side of the resonance peakingof the species to be characterized. The method of the invention, andspecifically the substitution of the corresponding half spectrum of thereference species for the half spectrum of the reference signal, shallthen have to be performed on each side of the spectrum.

The following description of the invention relates to the consequencesof DFRR processing 1320 on noise. The problem of “sidebands” is dealtwith afterwards.

As for noise, it is well known that the FFT of a noise signal n(t)having a Gaussian distribution with a zero mean with standard deviationσ is a noise signal such that:

${N(\omega)} = {\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{Npts}{{n(t)}e^{i\;\omega\;{t/N}}}}$which is characterized by a Gaussian distribution with a zero mean and astandard deviation σ√{square root over (N)} because noises are added ina quadratic way. N is the number of points in time. As the distributionof the noise signal is centred around zero, the modelized signalintroduces no discontinuity during the DFRR processing which isnaturally a zero signal. The noise obtained in the NMR is characterizedby a Gaussian distribution centred on zero. In the absence of a signal,as is the case here, the noise is thus centred on the X axis. In thepresence of a signal, the noise is naturally superimposed on the signal,and the return to the centred position then depends on the width of theline of the signal (typically a few Hertz to the half-way width, but inthe case of a Lorentzian line, the wings are relatively large) and ifthe signal is strong (water) this may reach several hundred Hertz.

The DFRR processing 1320 then consists in replacing the DFR N(ω) byzeros which leads to obtain a new signal Ñ(ω). Without any processingthe iFFT of N(ω) naturally leads to the production of the original noisesignal:

${n(t)} = {\frac{1}{N}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{{N(\omega)}e^{{- i}\;\pi\;\omega\;{t/N}}}}}$with its standard deviation σ. But, as half the points of N(ω) have beenreplaced by zeros then the iFFT Ñ(ω) leads to a new noise signal:

$\begin{matrix}{{\overset{\sim}{n}(t)} = {\frac{1}{N}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N}{{\overset{\sim}{N}(\omega)}e^{{- i}\;\pi\;\omega\;{t/N}}}}}} \\{= {\frac{1}{N}{\sum\limits_{i = 1}^{N/2}{{\overset{\sim}{N}(\omega)}e^{{- i}\;\pi\;\omega\;{t/N}}}}}}\end{matrix}$

As half the points have a zero value, the sum can be performed on theother half. The standard deviation σ of ñ(t) is then equal to

$\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{2}}.$

It can thus be said, and this is a first result, that the standarddeviation of the noise signal ñ(t) obtained during the DFRR processingis reduced by a factor √{square root over (2)} when compared to thestandard deviation of the original noise signal n(t).

Data processing continues using the module of the signal as described inFIGS. 1 to 9 to obtain a new signal as follows:

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{N}}(\omega)} = {{FFT}( {{\overset{\sim}{n}(t)}} )}$

As explained above the module of a noise characterized by a Gaussiandistribution with a zero centred mean is distributed according to theso-called Rice law. This distribution can be approximated by a Gaussiandistribution when the SNR is above 3, and by Rayleigh's distributionwhen the SNR tends toward zero. The characteristics of the SNR obtainedunder both above conditions have already been discussed in thedescription of FIGS. 1 through 9. The modification introduced by theDFRR processing 1320 only is discussed further. As for the Gaussiandistribution, it has been shown that if σ is the standard deviation ofn(t) then that of

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{N}}(\omega)} = {{FFT}( {{\overset{\sim}{n}(t)}} )}$is equal to σ too. By applying this to the composite spectrum obtainedas explained above, the standard deviation of Ñ(ω) is equal to that ofñ(t), which is itself equal to

$\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{2}}.$If the Gaussian approximation is valid the standard deviation of thenoise signal obtained using the DFRR transformation is reduced by afactor √{square root over (2)} compared to the standard deviationobtained when using the processing of the module only. The decrease inthe SNR is observed when the processing with the module is compared withthe conventional processing for the same Gaussian approximation of thenoise. The DFRR processing makes it possible to recover the lost SNRresulting from the processing of the module in the presence of Gaussiandistribution of noise.

As for the above so-called Rayleigh's condition, while noise is nolonger centred, the analysis is more complex. The noise characteristicsobtained under this approximation are discussed later.

In the following a mathematical representation of the DFRR processing1320 on these two noise distribution approximations is introduced. Thesemathematical representations are then used to calculate all the signalsused for the simulations.

Rayleigh's approximation is first modelized. If r(t) is a noise signalin the time domain, and R(ω) its Fourier transform, replacing the DFR ofR(ω) with zeros is exactly equivalent to a multiplication of R(ω) by theinverse of the unit-step function defined as follows:

$\begin{matrix}{{(\omega)} = {{0\mspace{14mu}{if}\mspace{14mu}\omega} > 0}} \\{= {{1\mspace{14mu}{if}\mspace{14mu}\omega} < 0}}\end{matrix}$The DFRR processing can be summed up as:{tilde over (R)}(ω)=R(ω)×

(ω)and the inverse transform iFFT gives:r(t)=FFT ⁻¹(R(ω)×

(ω))if the module is extracted the following is obtained:∥{tilde over (r)}(t)|=

and the fast Fourier transform leads to:

$\begin{matrix}{{\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{G}}(\omega)} = {{FFT}{()}}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}}\end{matrix}$The Gaussian approximation can be modelized by adding to the originalnoise spectrum r(t) a constant signal c(t) defined by:c(t)=c,∀tThis gives a new noise signal:g(t)=r(t)+cUsing the same notation as above the following is obtained

$\begin{matrix}{{\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)} = {{FFT}( {{\overset{\sim}{r}(t)}} )}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}} \\{= {{FFT}{()}}}\end{matrix}$Although

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{G}}(\omega)$is much like

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)$it will be seen hereafter, in the results section, that the shape of theresulting noise is much different.

As for the “sidebands” i.e. the antisymmetric artefacts around the watersignal, it has been seen that the symmetrisation induced when processingthe module was a simple and effective way to eliminate these from thefinal spectrum. When substituting the DFR of the spectrum with a modelof water, the “sidebands” located in this region are removed and theautomatic cancellation induced by the processing of the module is nolonger done. A solution for going on eliminating the distortions causedby the “sidebands” in the UFR spectrum is as follows:

$- {\underset{Mod}{S}(\omega)}$is the spectrum obtained when using the module processing only;

$- {\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)}$is the spectrum obtained when using both the module and the DFRRprocessing;

$- {\underset{Mod}{S}(\omega)}$does not contain artefacts of the “sidebands” type, whereas

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)$still contains some in the UFR part since they have not been cancelledby symmetrisation;

-   -   The UFR of the subtraction result

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)$minus

$\underset{Mod}{S}(\omega)$contains only the “sidebands” and some noise. Such “sidebands” can thenbe removed, which leads to a spectrum with no contamination by theantisymmetric artefacts of the “sidebands” type. The processrepresenting this transformation and how it is introduced into the DFRRprocessing 1320 appears in the box 1350 of FIG. 13.

In this figure, the step 1351 corresponds to the subtraction of thespectrum

$\underset{Mod}{S}(\omega)$from the spectrum

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)$to obtain the “sidebands” 1352. The step 1353 corresponds to thesubtraction of the “sidebands” 1352 from the spectrum

$\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{S}}(\omega)$to obtain a new spectrum 1354 wherein the “sidebands” 1352 are removed.

It should be noted here that the subtraction 1351 can be carried outeither on the FID, as shown in FIG. 13 or on the spectrum as shown inFIG. 12c-12e , with the FFT being distributive with respect to theaddition.

Preferably but optionally, a smoothing function is applied to thesubtraction obtained.

This embodiment has the particular advantage of being particularlysimple, reliable and effective to improve the SNR. It thus makes itpossible to take advantage of the benefits of the module byautomatically removing the antisymmetric artefacts but without thelimitations usually induced by the module with the superposition of thenoise present on either side of the resonance frequency of the referencespecies.

The case of CSI-type experiments, i.e. when analyzing several voxels isexamined hereunder. As indicated above, the reduction by a factor√{square root over (2)} of the SNR has never been observed in practicein the in vivo experiments carried out when implementing the methodbased on the taking into account of the module. Within the scope of thepresent invention, it has been identified that this is due to the factthat most of the examples were extracted from CSI type experiments andto the way the processing module has been implemented by the processshown in box 1310 of FIG. 13. As already seen, an FFT 1311 is firstexecuted in the spatial dimension, and followed by a calculation of themodule 1314 of each voxel of the CSI. This makes it possible to correctany phase and frequency shift in the spatial domain. Then, an inversetransform iFFT 1317 is performed in the spatial dimension which makes itpossible to obtain a new set of data of the k space. Then, theconventional processing is performed 1360. During this conventionalprocessing a spatial filtering is carried out.

Spatial filtering is applicable as soon as CSI are involved, whetherthey are acquired by one or more coil(s).

Spatial filtering can be applied:

-   -   either before the taking into account of the module, in the case        where the steps 1321 to 1326 are executed or in the case where        such steps 1321 to 1326 are not executed.    -   or, after taking account of the module, in the case where the        steps 1321 to 1326 are executed or in the case where such steps        1321 to 1326 are not executed. An increase in the signal to        noise ratio which is added to the one provided by the steps 1321        to 1326 if they are executed.        The spatial filtering is preferably performed by multiplying the        CSi by a bell (e.g. Gaussian, cosine, Hanning, Hamming, . . . )        function in the dimension of the spatial encoding (thus in the k        space), before the spatial Fourier transform.

One consequence of the spatial filtering is a reduction in the spatialresolution, i.e. an increase in the size of the voxels. This means that,after the spatial filtering, the new spectrum is the result of the sumof the original spectrum and a part of the spectrum surrounding theoriginal spectrum. If the spatial filtering is performed afterprocessing the module, the spectra of the CSI are aligned together inphase and frequency. This means that whatever the new voxel sizeobtained after filtering, all voxels involved are aligned together inphase and frequency. This further means that there is no increase in thewidth of the lines due to the increase in the size of the voxels. On thecontrary, if spatial filtering is performed prior to extracting themodule, the voxels involved are not aligned in phase and frequency andthe resolution of the resulting spectrum can be degraded leading to adecrease in the SNR, as illustrated in the following section giving theresults.

FIG. 22 is partly the same as FIG. 13. The steps having the samereferences as those in FIG. 13 are identical to those described abovewhile referring to FIG. 13. This figure illustrates in dotted lines theconventional processing (without taking the module into account). Italso illustrates the processing 1310 by the module applied to thecomplex FID signal S(t) (step 1314). This flow chart also illustratesthe DFRR processing combined with the processing by the module (steps1321 to 1326). In the latter two processings, spatial filtering isperformed prior to calculating the module (steps 1314 or 1326) with theconsequences discussed above. The case where the spatial filtering isperformed after the steps 1314 or 1326 will thus be preferred.

In this figure, the processing of the sidebands, which is an optionaloptimization of the invention, is not shown.

In the case of a single-voxel analysis, processing is greatly simplifiedsince the whole spatial processing disappears. The steps 1131, 1312 and1317 of FIG. 13 are no longer needed and the step 1313 becomesextracting a FID among those that have been acquired. In step 1326, wehave a FID that can be quantified in the time domain, or a temporalFourier transform can be performed to obtain a spectrum that can bequantified in the spectral domain. Whatever the method chosen, the finalvalidation of the result will preferably be in the spectral domain sincethis is a space where an operator can easily judge the quality of aspectrum. As a matter of fact, SNR, presence or absence of artefacts,width of lines cannot be visually assessed by an operator in the timedomain.

When the experiment is repeated several times to improve the SNR, theprocessing will be executed for each FID before summing same (step 1315)of FIG. 13. The steps between 1313 and 1315 of FIG. 13 may replace thesteps 340 of FIG. 3, with the step of “Calculation of the Module of eachFID” in FIG. 5 (in the case where the module is calculated after thespatial filtering) and the step 340 of FIG. 8, as is apparent from theforegoing description.

In this paragraph, the experimental framework for in vivo and in vitroapplications of the invention is more particularly described. Theassumptions used for the implementation of the invention were firsttested on simulations and then in experiments. In vivo experiments wereconducted from NMR equipment of the “scanner” type which can develop afield with a value of 3 tesla (Verio, Siemens Medical Solutions,Erlanger, Germany) using a so-called OVS-CSI specific pulse sequence.Most spectra presented in the results section below are excerpts fromCSI experiments obtained with 25×25 encoding pitch, a circular type ofweighting, and a short echo time, “25×25 circular weighted short echotime” with or without low water suppression. Acquisition parameters are:TR/TE=1,500/16 ms, sampling points=2,000, SW=2,000 Hz. The field ofvision is 240×240 millimeters (mm) and the wafer is 20 mm thick. Thetotal acquisition time is 11 minutes and 7 seconds. The results of CSIexperiments with long echo times are also presented in particular withan echo time of 135 ms, with all the other parameters remaining thesame. The subsequent processing was carried out using so-called CSIAPOspecific software which applies a so-called Hanning spatial filtering, azero padding of the acquired data on 8,000 sample points in the timedomain and removing the residual water signal using the HLSVD technique.All spectra obtained with the processing of only one module or with theprocessing of a module plus DFRR are multiplied by a factor of two tocompensate for the reduction in the strength of the signal by the samefactor induced by the processing of the module. These spectra are theneasier to visually, as compared with the spectra obtained with theconventional processing of the signals.

In the following description of the invention, the results of thesimulations carried out to verify the assumptions of implementation ofthe invention are described.

In order to visualize the shape of the noise signal obtained,respectively, with Rayleigh's distribution and the Gaussianapproximation, two complex noise signals have been generated usingso-called “IDL” software developed by the “Interactive Data Language,Research Systems Inc.” company located in Boulder, Colo., USA. The firstsignal r(t) 1411 consists of a normal distribution, in the statisticalmeaning of the word, composed of twice 4,000 samples forming apseudo-random sequence with a zero mean and a standard deviation of 10and representing Rayleigh's distribution. The second signal g(t) 1412 isobtained by adding a constant signal with amplitude of 50. It representsthe Gaussian distribution.

FIG. 14 shows the results obtained on these two noise signals duringeach step of the processing using either the processing of the moduleonly or the processing of the module with DFRR. For processing themodule, both modules ∥r(t)∥ and ∥g(t)∥ are extracted and after thetransform FFT, the noise spectra

${\underset{Mod}{R}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}{\underset{Mod}{G}(\omega)}$are obtained. As already discussed, these noise signals are multipliedby a factor of two to compensate for the loss of amplitude of the signalinduced by the processing of the module. The modification of the SNR canthen be visually estimated by the single evaluation of the noiseamplitude. As regards the processing DFRR, a Fourier transform isapplied to the signals r(t) and g(t), which respectively leads toobtaining the signals

${{\underset{Mod}{R}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1421\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}{\underset{Mod}{G}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1422},$i.e. the noise signals which would be obtained with the conventionalprocessing. The DFR of each signal is then replaced by zeros, anoperation upon completion of which

${\overset{\sim}{R}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1431\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}{\overset{\sim}{G}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1432$are obtained. Then, an inverse Fourier transform or iFFT is applied tothese two signals, the module is extracted and a FFT is applied againand multiplied by a factor of two for the same reason as above, whichleads to the final result

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1441\mspace{14mu}{and}\mspace{14mu}{\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{G}}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1442.$

If more particularly the signal

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)}\mspace{14mu} 1441$is more particularly considered, it is clear that the DFRR processingleads to obtaining a non-uniform noise in the spectral dimension. Itshould be reminded that Rayleigh's condition is the one that gives nodegradation of the SNR when using the processing of one module

$( {\underset{mod}{R}(\omega)} ),$which should be compared to the conventional processing

(R(ω)).When the DFRR processing is added to

$( {\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)} )$the noise around the centre of the spectral window has substantially thesame intensity as the one obtained using the processing of one module,whereas a reduction in the noise intensity can be observed when movingtoward the edges of the spectral window.

If attention is more particularly paid to the signal

${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{G}}(\omega)},$it is clear that the amplitude of the noise is reduced as compared to

${\underset{Mod}{G}(\omega)}.$It is comparable to the one of G(ω) which is the noise obtained when theconventional processing is used.

Tables 1a and 1b hereunder show the standard deviation of the noiseobtained at different interesting steps, when such simulation isrepeated 1,000 times. Table 1a shows the results obtained in the timedomain and Table 1b in the frequency domain. Again, the signals obtainedafter processing the module, with or without DFRR processing, aremultiplied by a factor two to compensate for the loss of signal strengthcreated by this processing. The standard deviation of the noise isdirectly related to the SNR.

1a r(t), g(t) {tilde over (r)}(t), {tilde over (g)}(t) Standarddeviation σ $\frac{\sigma}{\sqrt{2}}$ Measured 10.0 7.07 (calculated)(10.0) (7.07)

1b R(ω), G(ω) ${\underset{Mod}{R}(\omega)} \times 2$${\underset{Mod}{G}(\omega)} \times 2$${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)} \times 2$ (centre)${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{R}}(\omega)} \times 2$ edge${\underset{Mod}{\overset{\sim}{G}}(\omega)} \times 2$ Standard σ{squareroot over (N)} σ{square root over (2N)} σ{square root over (N(4 − π))} ?? σ{square root over (N)} deviation Measured 640.5 895.0 593.0 576.1138.3 637.3 (calculated) (640) (905.1) (592.6) (640)

This table shows that, in the areas where the noise of the original FIDsignal follows a Gaussian distribution, i.e. with a standard deviationthat tends toward zero, the SNR of the spectra obtained using theprocessing of the module with DFRR is increasing by a factor √{squareroot over (2)}, when compared to the SNR of the spectra obtained usingthe processing of a single module. The SNR obtained using the modulewith DFRR is then the same as the one obtained using the conventionalprocessing. In the region where the noise of the original FID signalobeys Rayleigh's law, i.e. when the SNR of the FID is above 3, the SNRof the spectra obtained using the processing of the module with DFRR iseven higher than the one obtained using the conventional processing.This gain can reach a factor of 4.6 near the limits of the spectralwindow. In practice, both regions are present in an acquired FID signaland the resulting SNR is between these two limits depending on therelationship existing between the noise that can be approximated by aGaussian distribution and the one which approaches Rayleigh'sdistribution in the original FID signal.

If for any reason, the condition for Rayleigh's law to apply is notdesirable, it should be noted that a constant signal can be added justbefore extracting the module and removed after the extraction thereof.If the value of the constant signal is so selected as to be greater thanthree times the standard deviation of the noise of the original FIDsignal, the condition for considering that the distribution is Gaussianis then met. The SNR of the spectra obtained using the processing of themodule with DFRR shall be the same as the one of the spectrum obtainedusing the conventional processing. The gain in SNR will be lost but thenoise of the resulting spectrum will then be flat. The frame 1370 ofFIG. 13 shows how this additional processing can be introduced into theprocessing of the DFRR 1320.

All the hypotheses enabling the implementation of the invention havealso been tested in vivo and in vitro as described in the next section.The results with the DFRR processing, the processing of a single moduleand the conventional processing have been compared. In vivo NMRspectroscopic/spectrometric data of the brain and in vitro ones of a“phantom” have been obtained using the experimental conditions describedabove.

As is known, a phantom is a model of what shall be studied. For example,it may be a water-containing vessel and a few metabolites that are foundin the brain.

FIG. 15 shows eight spectra extracted from the same voxel of a long echoCSI acquisition on a brain without water suppression. Graphs 1510, 1520,1530 and 1540 each represent a spectrum obtained with, respectively, theconventional processing, the module processing, the module processingwith DFR and with addition of a constant signal. This is executedwithout any apodization in the time domain, so as to maximize the noiseGaussian contribution. As a matter of fact, the FID must be multipliedby a decreasing exponential function which favours the beginning of theFID (i.e. the region where signal is present) and attenuates the end ofthe FID (where only noise remains). The graphs 1550, 1560, 1570 and 1580show the spectra obtained using the same processings but adding anexponential temporal filtering with a bandwidth of 0.5 so as to favourthe conditions for obtaining Rayleigh's distribution.

The SNRs obtained using the various processing techniques are shown inFIG. 15 and it can be verified that, when the Gaussian condition isfavoured 1520, 1530 and 1580, the SNR obtained using the conventionalprocessing is recovered by using the DFRR processing.

It can also be verified in this example that adding a constant to theFID signal before extracting the module and the removing thereof fromthe FID signal in areas where Rayleigh's law applies 1580, leads toreducing the SNR of the resulting spectrum as compared with the spectraobtained when Rayleigh's condition is favoured 1570. The SNR of theresulting spectrum is then the same as the one obtained using theconventional processing. It should also be noted that a decrease in SNRby a factor √{square root over (2)} is actually obtained when comparingthe conventional processing 1510 with the processing of the module 1520.This is due, in such particular cases, to the fact that the module andDFRR processing are performed after the spatial filtering in order toeliminate the gain in SNR which can be obtained when they are carriedbeforehand, as previously discussed (CSI experiments). The results shownhave been obtained by example from a CSI obtained with a 25×25 encodingpitch. Such results could be compared to those obtained with a singlevoxel experimentation. FIG. 15 illustrates what the DFRR processingalone brings. The processing by the module has been performed after thespatial apodization so as not to add the gain in SNR obtained when it isexecuted beforehand. Therefore, although the results of this figure havebeen obtained on a CSI, they are equivalent to those which would havebeen obtained on a single voxel.

FIG. 16 shows two spectra of the same voxel of a short echo CSIacquisition performed on a brain with only a partial suppression ofwater in order to minimize the “sidebands”. The diagram 1610 shows thespectrum obtained using the processing of one module and the spectrumobtained with the DFRR processing. The diagram 1620 shows the result ofthe subtraction between the spectrum obtained using the DFRR processingand the processing of the single module. It can be seen in this curve,which is the result of the subtraction, that there is no residual signalfrom the metabolites. The subtraction signal only consists of noise andartefacts which are probably “sidebands.”

As seen above, antisymmetric artefacts of the “sidebands” type canclearly be identified on FIG. 12a , which corresponds to a short echoCSI acquisition on a phantom which contains several metabolites in orderto mimic a brain spectrum. FIGS. 12a and 12b already described and FIG.12c respectively show the spectra obtained using a conventionalprocessing, processing with the single module and processing of themodule plus the DFRR. As already described, the “sidebands” are removedupon processing the single module but not in the case of the processingof the module plus the DFRR, as can be seen 1220. FIG. 12d shows theresult of the subtraction between the spectra of FIGS. 5b and 5c , i.e.the difference between one single module and module plus the DFRR.Residual water between 4 and 4.95 ppm 1230 and the sidebands can clearlybe found. FIG. 12e shows the spectrum obtained when this signal issubtracted from the signal, after processing the module with the DFRR,i.e. the one of FIG. 5c . It can be seen on the spectrum of FIG. 12 thatthe “sidebands” are then actually suppressed, and that this spectrum isvery similar to the one obtained using the processing module only, i.e.the one of FIG. 12b . FIG. 12f shows the result of the subtractionbetween the spectrum obtained with the processing of one single moduleand the spectrum obtained after subtracting the “sidebands”, using theDFRR method. This spectrum mainly comprises artefacts, if any, of the“sidebands” type. Therefore, this result clearly confirms that the DFRRmethod is very effective to remove any sidebands.

FIG. 17 illustrates the differences which can be achieved when using themodule processing before or after the spatial filtering on a short echoCSI acquisition on a phantom which mimics a brain spectrum. Preferably,the spatial filtering in this case consists in multiplying the rows andcolumns of the CSI with a Hanning function before the spatial Fouriertransform (i.e. in the k space). The diagrams 1710 and 1720 show theglobal spectrum obtained by summing all the spectra of the CSI. Thediagram 1710 shows the spectra obtained using no processing at all, withthe resulting spectrum being the spectrum of all the excited portion ofthe sample, i.e. 2 cm, which corresponds to the wafer thickness selectedby the pulse sequence in this case.

As mentioned above, the spatial filtering results in the summing of thespectra of neighbouring voxels. To leverage the phenomenon, this figuresums all the spectra of the CSI. The diagram 1710 shows what is obtainedif the spectra are summed before the module is taken into account (whichamplifies what would have been obtained if spatial filtering had beenperformed before the taking account thereof) and 1720 if the module isapplied before summing the spectra.

The low frequency resolution that can be noted on this spectrum is dueto the difficulty to homogenize the magnetic field over such a largevolume. The diagram 1720 shows the spectrum obtained by summing allspectra of the CSI, obtained using the module processing as shown in thebox 1310 of FIG. 13.

FIG. 17 further clearly illustrates that the spatial resolution issignificantly improved. The module processing in this case acts as if avery high homogeneity of the field B0 had been obtained during theacquisition, whereas this apparent good homogeneity results from theprocessing. This opens a new perspective in the case where a singlevoxel must be acquired on a large volume, thus a field difficult tohomogenize. As a matter of fact, it may be worth considering acquiringCSI instead, then carrying out the module processing to ultimatelyobtain a good quality spectrum. Such technique is greatly simplifiedwhen taking into account the module as provided by the invention.

FIG. 18 shows the results obtained using the same pattern from a longecho CSI acquisition on a brain. A gain in spectral resolution obtainedwith the module processing, as compared to the spectrum obtained fromthe raw data, can also be observed. It should also be noted that, insome voxels, the lipid signal may be greater than that of water. In thiscase, the lipid signal is taken as a reference in the module processing.The spectra of these voxels are then aligned in phase and frequencyaccording to the resonance of such lipids. Fortunately, in thespectroscopy/spectrometry of the brain, such a region contains nointeresting resonance. In addition, if the maximum of the resonance ofthe lipids is about 0.8 ppm, it will be shifted to 4.7 ppm (waterresonance position). The water resonance will then be separated into twoparts (due to the symmetrisation induced by the taking into account ofthe module) which will then be positioned, about 8.8 to −0.8 ppm, whichthankfully corresponds to a region outside the region of interest. Itcan be seen from FIG. 18 that the spectrum of interest is between 2 ppm(NAA) and 4 ppm (creatine). The peak located at about 2 ppm correspondsto NAAs and the peak located at about 4 ppm corresponds to creatine. Themass located between 0.8 and 1.8 ppm is that of lipids. However, thiseffect will act as a subsequent processing for removing the lipidssince, in all the voxels wherein the lipid signal is higher than thewater signal, the lipid signal will be reallocated to the waterresonance and will be removed with the water signal when removing theresidual water. This is why the lipid signal is higher on the spectrumobtained without processing the module 1810 which can be compared withthe spectrum obtained with the processing of the module 1820.

FIG. 19 shows the influence of the application of the processing withthe module before or after the spatial filtering on a long echo CSIacquisition of a brain. In this case, the spatial filtering function isa so-called Kaiser-Bessel window. FIG. 19 shows the spectra obtainedwhen the module is carried out beforehand (dotted lines) and afterwards(solid lines).

The higher α is, the narrower the filter and thus the stronger thefiltering. Now, the stronger the filtering, the larger the size of thevoxel thus the more the neighbouring voxels, the signal of which isadded to the considered voxel. Furthermore, the signals which are addedto the considered voxel come from areas that are increasingly remotefrom the considered voxel, so from regions wherein the spectrum is mostlikely to be out of phase and shifted by the inhomogeneity of themagnetic field B0. For α=0 there is no spatial filtering, and the SNRsof both spectra are equivalent. For α>0, it can be seen that the SNRobtained when the processing by the module is performed before thespatial filtering is better than the one which is obtained when it iscarried out afterwards, and that the deviation between both SNRsincreases with a (therefore with the voxel size). The above-mentionedfeature, which relates to the fact that the expected loss in theoreticalSNR due to the processing by the module is not obtained in the case ofthe CSI, if the spatial filtering is carried out after the extraction ofthe module, can be noted again here.

FIGS. 20 and 21 illustrate this effect on a CSI acquisition performed onthe one hand on a phantom (FIG. 20) and, on the other hand, on a patient(FIG. 21).

Each of these figures comprises the following spectra illustrated fromthe top downwards in these figures:

-   -   spectrum obtained using the conventional method,    -   spectrum obtained using the module method as described while        referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, while taking into account the module        after the spatial filtering,    -   spectrum obtained using the DFRR method,    -   spectrum obtained using the module method as described while        referring to FIGS. 1 to 9, taking into account the module before        the spatial filtering.

These spectra show that the DFRR technique and the technique of usingthe module before the spatial filtering make it possible to obtain verysatisfactory even improved SNRs as compared to the conventional method.This gain in SNR is even more evident in FIG. 21. This is probably dueto the magnetic field inhomogeneities which are higher on a control thanon a phantom.

FIG. 23 clearly shows that, when the sample comprises several species tobe characterized, the invention requires the presence of a referencespecies in large quantities in order to be used as a carrier for thespecies to be characterized. As a matter of fact, taking into accountthe module affects the carrier while enabling to compare the latter withthe signals of the species to be characterized.

The invention is thus clearly different from techniques which aim atanalyzing the relaxation time of a single species and for which thefrequency of the magnetic field is adjusted.

The invention particularly applies to spectroscopy/spectrometry whethersingle-voxel or multi-voxel (CSI).

Removing the water signal during the acquisition, then applying themodule to the signal obtained would make any quantification ofmetabolites impossible. This clearly appears in FIG. 23 which relates toa spectroscopy/spectrometry. The FID 2301 is obtained after the almostcomplete suppression of the water signal, with such suppression beingcarried out during the acquisition. The FID 2302 is obtained after thealmost complete suppression of the water signal and after taking intoaccount the module. The spectrum 2303 is the spectrum obtained using aFourier transform of the FID 2301 and a manual phase correction. On thespectrum 2303, the metabolites can be identified and quantified. Thespectrum 2303 accurately reproduces the sample composition. The peak2303 a corresponds to the residual water signal and the peaks 2303 b-ccorrespond to the metabolites. 2301 and 2303 thus correspond to theconventional processing.

The spectrum 2304 is the spectrum obtained using a Fourier transform ofthe FID 2302. This spectrum is inoperative. It is very different fromthe spectrum 2303 and the metabolites cannot be identified orquantified. Taking account the module results in a false interpretationbecause of the acquisition with signal suppression of the referencespecies.

In practice, when the reference species is present in a much higheramount than that of the species to be characterized, the signal of thereference species will form a carrier for the signals of the otherspecies.

In in vivo analyzes using water as the reference species, this willalways be the case since water is present in an amount above 10³. Mostoften, it is present in an amount above 10⁵ or even 10⁶ times the amountof the other species. Thus, regardless of the relaxation time of thespecies, the water signal will form a carrier for the signals of theother species and taking into account the module will not remove thephase information of the signals of the species present in smallerquantity than water.

In other cases, where the reference species is initially present in amajor amount but with a factor of 2, for example, and if the relaxationtime of the reference species and of the species to be characterized aresignificantly different, then it may be advisable to modify thecomposition of the sample by performing at least one of the followingsteps:

-   -   adding solvent into the solution to increase the content thereof        and thus to increase the signal of the reference species and let        it act as the carrier;    -   adding a species producing no signal (no resonance frequency)        but modifying the relaxation times to the sample. Such is the        case of CuSO₄ for example.

Although the detailed description refers, by way of example, to thecharacterization of metabolites in a biological sample, the presentinvention also proves advantageous for analyzing a non-biologicalchemical composition. As a matter of fact, the invention makes itpossible, for example, to identify chemical compounds in a solutioncomprising a reference species such as water or any other solvent and tomeasure the content of such compounds in this solution.

In addition, the invention applies whatever the nature of the referencespecies. Such reference species is often water as shown in the aboveexamples but may be another species, for example a solvent other thanwater.

The invention is not limited to the embodiments described, but extendsto all the embodiments covered by the claims.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method for the spectroscopic analysis,using nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR), of at least one samplecomprising at least one species to be characterized and a referencespecies, the sample content of which is more than twice greater than thecontent of the at least one species to be characterized, with the methodcomprising the following steps: a. applying at least one constant fieldB₀ to the at least one sample, b. acquiring, using one or moreantenna(s), one or more complex free induction decay (FID) signal(s)S(t), with each complex FID signal S(t) comprising a real part and animaginary part; with the sample being such that the relative content ofthe reference species and of the at least one species to becharacterized, as well as the relative relaxation times thereof resultin that, in the at least one complex FID signal S(t), the amplitude ofthe signal of the reference species is at least twice greater than theamplitude of the signal of the at least one species to be characterized,wherein the method also comprises at least the following steps of: c.obtaining a FID spectrum S(ω) by applying a Fourier transform to thereal and complex parts of the at least one complex FID signal S(t), withthe FID spectrum S(ω) obtained then comprising the reference species andthe species to be characterized and having two portions (upfield region(UFR), downfield region (DFR)), each extending from the resonancefrequency of the reference species F_(0Ref) and respectively on eitherside of F_(0Ref), with a resonance frequency of the species to becharacterized being located on a first portion of the spectrum takenamong said two portions (UFR, DFR); d. modeling the signal of thereference species Sref(t) from the real and complex parts of the atleast one complex FID signal S(t); e. obtaining a spectrum Sref(ω) ofthe reference species by applying a Fourier transform to the modeling ofthe signal of the reference species Sref(t), with the spectrum Sref(ω)of the reference species then having two spectrum portions extendingfrom the resonance frequency (F_(0Ref′)) of the reference species of thespectrum Sref(ω) and extending respectively on either side of F_(0Ref′);f. obtaining a modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrum, bysubstituting a second portion of the FID spectrum S(ω), with said secondportion being the portion taken from said two portions (UFR and DFR) ofthe spectrum S(ω) and which does not comprise said resonance frequencyof the species to be characterized, by the portion of the spectrumSref(ω) taken from the two portions of the spectrum extending fromF_(0Ref′) of the spectrum Sref(ω) and which extends on the same side assaid second portion of the spectrum S(ω); g. applying an inverse Fouriertransform to the modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum to obtain amodified {tilde over (s)}(t) signal in the time domain; h. calculatingthe module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, comprising, after the step of calculating themodule of the FID signal S(t), a step of identifying and/or quantifyingspecies to be characterized from the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal.
 3. The method according to claim 1, comprising astep of calculating the module of the complex FID signal S(t) andcomprising the following steps executed after calculating the module ofthe modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal: i. subtracting (1351) themodule of the complex FID signal S(t) signal from the module of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal; j. subtracting (1354) theresult obtained in the previous step from the module of the modified{tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.
 4. The method according to claim 1,comprising a step of calculating the module of the complex FID signalS(t) and comprising the following steps executed after calculating themodule of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal: i. applying aFourier transform to the module of the complex FID signal S(t) and tothe module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal and thensubtracting the spectrum of the module of the signal S(t) from thespectrum of the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal;j. subtracting the result obtained in the previous step from thespectrum of the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.5. The method according to claim 1, wherein, during the step ofidentifying and/or quantifying the species to be characterized from themodule of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal, a Fouriertransform is applied to a signal comprising at least the module of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.
 6. The method according toclaim 1, wherein the content of the reference species in the sample issufficiently higher than the content of the species to be characterizedin the sample for the signal of the reference species to be used as acarrier for the signal of the at least one species to be characterized.7. The method according to claim 1, wherein the relative contents in thesample of the reference species and of the at least one species to becharacterized, as well as the relative relaxation times thereof are suchthat the amplitude of the signal of the reference species is at leastfive times, and preferably ten times greater than the amplitude of thesignal of the at least one species to be characterized.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the FID module of a sample comprising thespecies to be characterized is equal to IIS(t)II which is defined by thefollowing equation:IIS(t)II=IA _(H2O)(t)+A ₀(t)cos(Δωt+Δφ)I wherein: Δω=ω−ω_(H2O) andΔφ=φ−ω_(H2O) respectively correspond to the frequency and phase offsetsbetween the at least one species to be characterized and the referencespecies, A_(H2O)(t) is the amplitude versus time of the FID signal ofthe reference species, A₀(t) is the amplitude versus time of the FIDsignal of the species to be characterized.
 9. The method according toclaim 1, wherein, during the step of acquiring, a plurality of complexFID signals S(t) is acquired.
 10. The method according to claim 9,wherein the step of calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal is performed for each modified {tilde over (s)}(t)FID signal.
 11. The method according to claim 9, wherein, after the stepof calculating the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signalfor each complex FID signal S(t) and before the step of identifyingand/or quantifying the species to be characterized, a summation of themodules of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) signals is executed so as toobtain a combined FID signal.
 12. The method according to claim 9,wherein the antennas are coils and wherein the complex FID signals S(t)acquired are delivered by the same coil.
 13. The method according toclaim 9, wherein the antennas are coils and wherein the complex FIDsignals S(t) acquired are delivered by different coils.
 14. The methodaccording to claim 9, wherein the antennas are coils and wherein theacquired complex FID signals S(t) are delivered by different coils andseveral complex FID signals S(t) are acquired for at least some coils.15. The method according to claim 9, wherein, during the step ofacquiring, complex FID signals S(t) are acquired from multiple voxels ofthe sample, and wherein a step of spatial filtering is carried out afterthe calculation of the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal for each one of the voxels.
 16. The method according to claim 12,wherein after calculating the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t)FID signal, for each complex FID signal S(t), and prior to the summingof the modules of the modified signals {tilde over (s)}(t) to obtain acombined FID signal, a step of calculating a weighting factor (810) foreach coil is executed and the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t)FID signal is weighted by the weighting factor of the coil which it hasbeen delivered from.
 17. The method according to claim 12, wherein theconstant field B0 is applied to several voxels of a sample and whereinthe frequency spectra of the combined FID signals of the differentvoxels are used to generate one or more images using chemical shiftimaging (CSI).
 18. The method according to claim 1, wherein, during thestep of acquiring, only one complex FID signal S(t) is acquired, whereinonly one FID spectrum S(ω) is obtained by applying a Fourier transformto the real and complex parts of said unique complex FID signal S(t),and wherein a step of identifying and/or quantifying the species to becharacterized is executed, and then a Fourier transform is applied toonly one module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.
 19. Themethod according to claim 1, wherein, during the step of acquiring, aspatially encoded FID signal is acquired, the acquisition is repeatedseveral times to obtain several encoded signals, with each one of saidencoded signals being subsequently decoded so that it is associated witha voxel of the sample and a FID module is generated for the FID signalassociated with each voxel.
 20. The method according to claim 1, whereinthe sample comprises several species to be characterized.
 21. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the sample is a sample of a biologicalmaterial, the reference species is water and the species to becharacterized are metabolites.
 22. The method according to claim 1,wherein the sample is a chemical composition, the reference species is asolvent and the species to be characterized are chemical compounds. 23.The method according to claim 1, wherein the content of the referencespecies in the sample is at least greater than 10² times or even 10³times the content of each species to be characterized.
 24. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the analysis is a spectroscopic or aspectrometric analysis.
 25. The method according to claim 1, wherein thespecies to be characterized has at least a first resonance frequencylocated on the right of the resonance frequency F_(0Ref) of thereference species and at least a second resonance frequency located onthe left of the resonance frequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species;and wherein: the step f. is thus performed while considering that saidsecond portion of the spectrum is the portion located on the left of theresonance frequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species, so as to obtain afirst modified FID {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum representing the firstresonance frequency; and the step f. is thus performed while consideringthat said second portion of the spectrum is the portion located on theright of the resonance frequency F_(0Ref) of the reference species, soas to obtain a second modified {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrumrepresenting the second resonance frequency.
 26. The method according toclaim 25, wherein the steps g. and h. are preferably applied to each oneof the first and second modified FID {tilde over (S)}(ω) spectra.
 27. Acomputer program product comprising instructions, which when executed byat least one processor, executes at least the steps c to h of the methodaccording to claim
 1. 28. A system for analyzing, using nuclear magneticresonance (NMR), at least one sample comprising at least one species tobe characterized and a reference species, with the sample content beingmore than twice greater than the content of the at least one species tobe characterized, with the system comprising means for applying theconstant magnetic field B0 to the sample and means for applying a fieldgenerating an electromagnetic excitation in the constant field B0 andcomprising at least one antenna so configured as to acquire one or morecomplex free induction decay (FID) signal(s) S(t) in the time domain,with each complex FID signal S(t) comprising a real part and animaginary part; with the sample being such that the relative content ofthe reference species and of the at least one species to becharacterized, as well as the relative relaxation times thereof resultin that, in the at least one complex FID signal S(t), the amplitude ofthe signal of the reference species is at least twice greater than theamplitude of the signal of the at least one species to be characterized,wherein the system comprises processing means so configured as toexecute the following steps: obtaining a FID spectrum S(ω) by applying aFourier transform to the real and complex parts of the at least onecomplex FID signal S(t), with the FID spectrum S(ω) obtained thencomprising the reference species and the species to be characterized andhaving two portions (upfield region (UFR), downfield region (DFR)), eachextending from the resonance frequency of the reference species(F_(0Ref)) and respectively on either side of F_(0Ref), with a resonancefrequency of the species to be characterized being located on a firstportion of the spectrum taken among said two portions (UFR, DFR);modeling the signal of the reference species Sref(t) from the real andcomplex parts of the at least one complex FID signal S(t); obtaining aspectrum Sref(ω) of the reference species comprising only the referencespecies, by applying a Fourier transform to the modeling of the signalof the reference species Sref(t), with the spectrum Sref(ω) of thereference species then having two portions extending from the resonancefrequency of the reference species (F_(0Ref′)) of the spectrum Sref(ω)and extending respectively on either side of F_(0Ref′); obtaining amodified {tilde over (S)}(ω) FID spectrum, by substituting a secondportion of the FID spectrum S(ω), with said second portion being theportion taken from said two portions (UFR and DFR) of the spectrum S(ω)and which does not comprise the resonance frequency of the species to becharacterized, by the portion of the spectrum Sref(ω) taken from the twoportions of the spectrum extending from F_(0Ref′) of the spectrumSref(ω) and which extends on the same side as said second portion of thespectrum S(ω); applying an inverse Fourier transform to the modified{tilde over (S)}(ω) spectrum to obtain a modified {tilde over (s)}(t)FID signal in the time domain; calculating the module of the modified{tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal.
 29. The system according to claim 28,comprising one or more antenna(s) so configures as to acquire aplurality of complex FID signals, with the system being so configured asto, after the step of calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal for each complex signal S(t) of said plurality ofcomplex FID signals S(t), execute a summing of the modules of themodified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signals so as to obtain a combined FIDsignal and apply said Fourier transform to said combined FID signal. 30.The system according to claim 28, wherein the system comprisesprocessing means so configured as to execute the steps of: calculatingthe module of the complex FID signal S(t). and the following stepsexecuted after calculating the module of the modified {tilde over(s)}(t) FID signal: subtracting the module of the complex FID signalS(t) from the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal; orapplying a Fourier transform to the module of the complex FID signalS(t) and to the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signaland then subtracting the spectrum of the module of the signal S(t) fromthe spectrum of the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal; subtracting (1354) the result obtained in the previous step fromthe module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FID signal respectivelyfrom the spectrum of the module of the modified {tilde over (s)}(t) FIDsignal.